


From the Ill Mind of My Twelve-Year-Old Self

by Noth_lit_8



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Also I was a severely mentally ill child pls keep this in mind, CRINGE DID I SAY CRINGE, Disturbing but also hilarious kinda???, Eight years later I find this shit, Even then I was into being canon compliant and then diverging, F/M, i was twelve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 30,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noth_lit_8/pseuds/Noth_lit_8
Summary: Alright kiddos, strap the fuck in, because I've got some unusual shit to show you.When I was TWELVE, I finished the Animorphs and was so distressed at book 54 that I wrote FOUR NEW "BOOKS". So here they at. If anyone wants to see the shitstorm my teeny brain thought up, I just accidentally dug it up from the depths of my Google Drive, so here it is.This is good for if you need a laugh. Please read with the understanding this is ACTUAL TRASH.I haven't touched a single thing - I literally copy/pasted all of this.





	1. The After

**Author's Note:**

> Ya'll ready for this?

Author's note: This takes place three years after book #54 by K.A. Applegate. Sorry the first chapter is so long, just wanted to fit all that stuff into one chapter. Also, Marco's second flashback is from Megamorphs #4, so if you didn't read Megamorphs #4, it won't make any sense. Tobias's second flashback is from book #33, and his third is from book #54,(and I am assuming you read 54). Enjoy my first Anific!

 

Chapter One *Tobias*

My name is Tobias. Now you expect I'm going to be all like, I can't tell you where I live, my last name, yada, yada, yada. But I'm not, because all of that stuff doesn't even matter anymore. I can tell you the full story. I can tell you everything. No more secrecy. And if you haven't read the books by KA Applegate, why are you even reading this? Well, I'm gonna assume that you've read the other books before. AND IF YOU HAVEN'T READ #54, GO BACK NOW! MAJOR SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T!!!!! 

I guess I'll start from the very beginning. When we first started the second war, on the other planet. Though it lasted only about two years or so, it was still almost just as terrible as the first. 

We had to live in the spacecraft which we flew in to get to the planet. Jake and Marco had to live on water and this plant that looked like a turnip with blue fuzz clumps stiking out. It grew on a vine, and as Marco put it, "It tastes like an orange that's been soaking in pickle juice for a decade or so!" The andalites called it a jumblyt. I never tried it, considering hawks don't eat plants. Yet their food was still better than mine was...

I was offered meat from a creature about the size of a mouse, but the characteristics of the creature itself was horrifying, and basically nothing resembling a mouse. It was bright red, looking almost radioactive! It had no teeth, but three white tounges each about three inches. The tail looked like the tail of a rat's, but shorter. It had six stubby legs, and made a gurgling noise. Its one eye was small, and seemed to bulge out of the forehead. At least I think it was a forehead. Its was called a nerthi.

For the first three days, I refused to eat. The creature seemed ugly, and I didn't even know if my hawk stomach could digest the thing! Finally, I caved in and tasted it. Pitch black blood oozed out, and it almost made me change my mind. I'm sorry, but I can't describe what I felt tasting it. It was what I imagine was like dying and going to hell. I must have went unconcious, because I remember waking up again.

My first reaction was pure hawk. I raked my talons on Jake's head, then hit what I thought was outside, but actually a window. That's all that I needed to surface back up again, and gain control of the hawk's instinct. I must have apoligized at least a thousand times to Jake. I must not have raked hard though, for he only lost a few hairs. No blood, no bleeding, no bandages, a million apoligies.

After that, I morphed to human and ate the turnip thing whenever I got hungry. 

Another reason the war only lasted a year and a half, was some information we found out about Ax-man. What we thought was Ax, was only a mere holagram! 

Jake had yelled. I was so busy raking the eyes of infested Hork-Bajir, that I barely heard him. Shoot downward...rake!...come back up and repeat. Hello? Hello Tobias? Didn't you hear what Jake just yelled! It was all in the back of my mind. The thought pushed its way towards the front of my hawk brain, and I immediatly left the screaming Hork-Bajir clutching at their eyes, and headed towards Jake. The orange and black tiger was easy to spot in all of the blackness, and thanks to amazing hawk vision I could see Marco in gorilla morph. 

I yelled in thought-speech. He didn't move.

He still didn't move. Relization came upon me, finally figuring out the truth. Too late though. Marco's gorilla cinder-block fist tried to grab Ax's back. It went straight through. Marco stuttered, and froze. 

I yelled to them.

Red beams came out of the walls in all directions. The holigraphic Ax was set so that if it sensed motion, the trap would spring. TSEEW! Red dracon beams flashed in every direction. I heard Marco scream. A beam had completly sliced off his right hand! Jake lay unconcious on the floor a with a bloody gash on his left side. His right hind leg was severed, and lying on the floor.

The yeerks hadn't bothered to set the trap twice I think, because it never went off again. All I could think about was Jake and Marco, so I didn't even notice, until I tried to fly, that my tail feathers had been singed badly. So, instead of flying, I fell to the ground near Jake's unconcous tiger body.

I heard pounding feet in the hall nearby. The seemingly lifeless body stirred a bit. 

 

I cut him off there. 

I heard Marco yell. Jake stumbled on his three feet, and ran back to the spacecraft. Marco knuckle walked, and knocked a couple of controllers down. 

I yelled. I couldn't fly with the condition my tail feathers were in. He gently picked me up in his left hand since the right one was somewhere in a bloody heap on the floor, and we reached the spacecraft. Jake was already demorphed to human. He was human, and alive and whole. 

Marco demorphed, and I morphed to human to get rid of damage. , the andalites that had come with us to the planet demanded the full story all the time. They never came to fight themselves. They let us do their dirty work.

"It was a hologram!" I heard Jake yell. "It wasn't the real Ax! Er, um, I mean... Prince Aximili." We were all in a panic trying to figure everything out. 

I heard an andalite cadet yell. A holographic image appeared in blue and tan. I was the first to react. 

"Ax-man!" 

He responded with simply just 

"Where are you?! We have been trying to find you here in this hellhole for a year at least!", Jake demanded.  
Marco tapped his shoulder. "Uh, Jake buddy? If the machine says MESSAGE FROM ANDALITE HOME PLANET where can we guess he's at?" Marco sarcastically asked him. 

Jake's shoulders relaxed then he suddenly slapped his forehead. "You're on the andalite home planet," he said. 

 

"Are you safe yet?" Marco anxoiusly asked him.

_He had a tone to him that I had recignized. A tone of slight anger. Could he possibly be angry that we had not been there to fight with him? His eyes were a darker color, narrowed into vertical slits. He looked pretty ticked... The others (including the andalites) didn't seem to notice anything that I did. Maybe it was just all in my head._

_The words were out before I could stop them. "Ax-man, you know if we could've, we'd be there. We all thought you were here, so...well here we are. We tried to find you! We fought, and put our lives at risk once again to safe you from this place!" Idiot. I said to myself. Like that's gonna help at all!_

_Yet, surprisingly, Ax's eyes softened. He smiled that way he has of lifting the corners of his eyes up._

_"Don't call me prince." Jake of course._

_An andalite asked interrupting all of our thoughts._

_"Yes." He replied to the cadet. Home. The thought of earth seemed like heaven._

_"Prince Aximilli, we have to go now. We are traveling back to earth right now, but when we can, we'll send some more cinnabons over to your home planet. Take care." His holigram disapeared. We have to call him Prince Aximilli when other andalites are around. It is only proper. Though he obviously didn't make us call him that when we were alone. And the cinnabons, I was serious about. Every week, when possible, a shipmant of good tasting things from earth got sent off to the andalite home world._

_The andalite finished. We left. No hesitation. There was no reason to be on the planet anymore. Delay would've just been silly._

_The flight back home was as smooth as it could get I guess. Considering how smooth was possible flying through Z-space with andalites, it went well...except for one night...the dream..._

_"No don't hurt her! Please no!" I watched in human morph helplessly as a Hork-Bajir aimed a dracon beam at Rachel's head. Another was restraining me from attempting to rip them limb by limb. I couldn't do much damage as a human, but I would still try. "Oh god no! Don't hurt her! NOOOOO! Torture me instead! Let her go! Please no! Rachel!" She yelled and cursed words I didn't even know she knew. "You filthy slugs! Lemme go!" She yelled. "God Rachel don't die now!" Suddenly, she was free of the dracon beam. The Hork-Bajir sizzled and dissapeared. I ran up and tried to hug her. "ZAP!" "Ow!" A force feild surrounded her, not allowing me to touch her. "You're too late Tobias." She said it in a calm scary tone. "What? But. But. But." "I'm dead Tobias. You're too late." I fell to my knees. They had failed me and I'd given way, buckling underneath me. "You can't leave me Rachel!" I was on the ground sobbing hystaricly. "Too late Tobias. I'm already gone." She turned to ashes and dissapeard slowly. The wind lifted her away. "NOOOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"_

_"Tobias! Man, get a grip!" I woke up numbly. I looked down. Talons, feathers, hawk. A nightmare! I looked back up only to see Jake looking at me very concerned._

_"It was Rachel again, wasn't it." He said it like he knew 100% that he was right. I looked away. I couldn't take it anymore!_

_I cut myself off there. What. Was. I. Doing! Eesh, man I was losing it! I was about to say more, so good thing I cut myself off there. I can't beleive I said that. Then I spotted a bigger problem. Jake wore a look of disgust of himself, and he looked like I litterally punched him in the gut._

_"Well, what did you expect me to do? It stopped the yeerk invasion, and it did cost a life, but we saved millions, or maybe billions...trillions of lives by doing it." He didn't yell, he just said it in a calm, strict, offended sorta way._

_It wasn't true. I still hated him for it. But what was he supposed to do instead? Maybe I was just being rediculous or unreasonable._

_"Uh, yeah. You ok? It sounded like some nightmare you were having," he said._

_I figured he'd laugh._

_"Sure Tobias, but I don't think he would laugh. At least not about this," he said with total sincerity. I dug my talons back into my perch, and fell back to sleep...more or less._

_That was it. The war, or at least the major highlights of it. From my perspective, knowing Rachel was there, and alive, whole, beautiful in my eyes, it would have made it a billion times better._

_Chapter 2 *Tobias*_

_The Rachel (and by Rachel I mean the ship, 'cause in case you forgot, that's what it was called.) landed smoothly in a large parking lot. I recognized it. It was the mall parking lot. Seeing it again brought back a lot of painful memories._

_Ax-man was stuffing cinnabons in his mouth. We were all laughing, or trying hard not to laugh. Then he grabbed a few ciggarettes out of an ashtray, and tried to devour them too. Rachel and Cassie were grabbing them back from him, and Jake wore a look that a parent would wear if their two year old had just spelled cat, d-o-g. His head was slightly shaking in an amused sort of way, then rolled his eyes and smiled. Marco and I were still attempting not to laugh. A few snickers escaped though._

_Rachel dragged Cassie (seriously almost dragged her) into one of Rachel's favorite stores. Cassie shot a look at Jake that could only be "save me!" He looked at her and shrugged, which could only mean, "Sorry, but when Rachel wants to shop, there's no stopping her." Rachel picked out a dark blue dress which was honestly very nice. It flattered Cassie's shape, and skin color. Rachel was shoving it at her and yelling, "Cassie PLEASE try it on! It looks so nice!" Cassie shook her head no. "Where would I ever wear the thing?" The guys, including me, were all once again trying not to laugh. Then I spotted Ax looking at the ciggarettes again, and we had to haul him outta there._

_Then the last normal day of my life._

_I watched as Marco and Jake were walking out of the store with those video game booths or something. Jake spotted me and waved. "Hey Tobias." "Hi Jake." Marco rolled his eyes. He looked at me like I'm some sorta mega dweeb or something. "So, like maybe I'll walk home with you guys?" I said. I said it sorta like it was a question though. Like I was half expecting Marco to jump in and say, 'Uh, no.' Instead they let me stay with them. I trailed a little behind them, not quite sure if I belonged. Soon, we spotted Cassie and Rachel. Rachel is Jake's couson, and I get the impression Jake sorta likes Cassie. As in really likes. I had talked to Rachel a few times, but not much. I never really knew what to say. Jake said the wrong thing right then. "You shouldn't be walking through the construction site by yourselves, being girls and all." I could tell he regreted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "Oh, you think you're gonna come protect us you big strong MAAAN?" Rachel said sarcastically to him. Never mistake Rachel for some little whimp. "You think we're so helpless just because-" "Actually Rachel, I'd kind of like it if they did walk with us. Maybe you're not scared of anything, but I guess I am." That was Cassie. She has the amazing ability to stop arguments and fights. We could go the safe way, which is the long way home. Or we could take the short cut through the construction site and hope there wasn't any ax murderers. We took the short cut, but we didn't find any kidnappers. We found Prince Elfangor instead. My dad, though I didn't know at the time._

_I snapped out of my flashbacks, and into reality._

_There were SO many people there. In the parking lot I mean. Even with my hawk vision, I couldn't see the end of the crowd. That's how long it was. Oh, my god! The president of the United States! At our mall parking lot! Cool! I looked at Jake and Marco. It seemed to impress them, but not as much. Oh yeah, they've seen the president before. In fact, they've seen him a number of times. I quickly began to morph to human. I figured it would be better to appear in human in this situation._

_"Jake Berenson and Marco Miller?" he called their names. He called out the andalite's names too. The crowd yelled and chanted their names. I suddenly grew angry. I almost yelled Hey, what about Tobias? I stopped the morph. I turned back to hawk once again. Nobody thinks about a hawk. That's all I am to them. A hawk. Nothing more. I'm an Animorph too! They stepped out of the ship, and were greeted by like a million people. I think I even spotted a guy selling hot dogs._

_I must have been acting rediculous. I didn't want pity. I just wanted to be treated equeally! Little did I know, they had no idea I was even on the spacecraft. They thought I was still in my meadow. Nobody had told them I was going to fight the war with them. They didn't even know I was there. I know now that they would've welcomed me if they knew that I was there._

_I shot off of my perch just as everybody had gotten out of the ship. "Tobias, wait!" I heard Jake yell. I didn't aknowledge him. Marco tried to grab me, but I hauled my little feathered butt outta there! Marco tried to run after me, but was stopped by people shoving and pushing to get closer, and big men in dark suits holding them back. Security I bet. I saw Cassie watching sadly as I flew away._

_Nobody else noticed as a red tailed hawk found a beautiful thermal, and soared high up into the clouds._

_It felt like a miracle to be up there once again, in the human atmosphere. Riding a warm July thermal. Flying, and flying, and flying, not caring about where I was going. I just needed to get away. I wanted to forget everything. I flew as fast as I could, the fastest I ever flew. It felt as if I was a rocket shooting at warp speed through the sky. I wanted to fly as if my mind would just leave me. I flew felt like I was flying at like warp factor nine, dodging trees left and right. Tree! Tree! Treetreetreetreetree! I was giddy! It was a rush!_

_I don't know if I did it on purpose...wait, well not on purpose exactly. Maybe it was just an accident. Or possibly, I was doing it subcounciously, without fully knowing what I was doing. Whatever. How I got there doesn't matter._

_I was in my meadow. My territory._

_Chapter 3 *Cassie*_

_Jake and Marco were surrounded by people. Everywhere I looked, all I saw was people. I was thankful I wasn't claustraphobic. Not the place to be if I was. Of course, being an Animorph, I had the privalige of not being rediculiously squished. Everybody let me through, until I was up front, and could practically touch Marco, Jake, and the andalites._

_Then I saw Tobias. He shot out of the ship like a bullet. I guess he felt very unwelcome. That was terrible, considering all he's given up. Much more than anybody else. Well, except for Rachel...Tobias really let the war get to him. He had a lousy life as a normal human, and a pretty lousy life as a hawk. He almost fully given in to the hawk. The only thing stopping him, the only thing tying him to humanity was Rachel; but now he lost that too._

_Jake looked past me, over my head, then lowered his gaze. He spotted me, and gave a little half wave. I returned the same slightly odd, oquward wave. I think Jake got the impression that I was going out with that guy I have to work with. For the animals and all. It wasn't true of course. He was just a really close friend. A guyfriend, not a boyfriend. I was twenty-six, and single._

_Doesn't really matter much right then though. Marco motioned for me to come up to the little gray platform the ship was landed on, and they and the Andalites were also standing on it. I slightly shook my head no. I don't do well with the crowds, and besides. This was their moment. Not mine._

_Marco must have been thinking Well, if she won't come up, then I'll come down. Jake saw him, then took a swing at Marco's shirt collar. Missed! Marco took a little hop down, and told me all about Ax. I almost fainted from relief. I had prayed so hard that they would all be safe. Thank god they were, but I figured that Marco and Jake would have had to rescue Ax. I guess the andalite fleet took care of that._

_"So it was all a waste?",I quietly asked._

_He responed with, "I guess. I haven't really thought of it like that. I guess I'm in denial that it was all for nothing." I glanced back up at Jake. He was talking to Barak Obama, the first African American president. Jake was explaining to him and the whole entire crowd (with the help of a very powerful microphone) about their trip, and what had been discovered. The andalites jumped in occasionally to add in anything he missed._

_I saw Jake shooting glances at my fingers. Looking for a ring I guess. Ugh, great. I held up my hands, and wiggled my fingers. No ring. He sort of blushed, because I don't think he was trying to let me see that. I almost laughed, but stopped myself. He thought it may have offended me, but of course it didn't. It was strange that he was making a huge speech, standing next to the president, and he was worried about wether or not I was engaged or married. I wasn't even dating! Though, I found it somewhat sweet at the same time. I looked at Marco, who was rolling his eyes dramatically, making a point of it. He stepped back onto the platform, and helped Jake with his speech._

_It was a HUGE victory. Even though the end result of their war turned out very different than everybody expected. Thank GOD that everybody was safe, and that was all I cared about at the time. Maybe after everything calmed down, I'll invite Jake over to my house. Just to catch up._

_Chapter 4 *Tobias*_

_My territory. Well, I assumed that it would already have another dominant bird of prey. An eagle, falcon, whatever. I let loose a "TSEER!" just to make sure. If any other bird was living there, it would have responded, and I would be able to clearly see it._

_No response_

_Still no response._

_, I called out in thought speech. I flew past the trees, until I found my favorite perch. I fluttered down, and landed, grasping my talons tightly onto the branch._

_I was back in my meadow. I could just keep living like I had before the second war. I could easily do that. It was like nothing changed at all. I could continue to be Tobias the red tailed hawk. Easy. Simple._

_Five seconds later, life got a lot more confusing._

_Suddenly, a red tail flew literally right into my face! "Ah! Hey! Watch it!", I yelled. That was stupid. Of course, it couldn't understand me. Or so I thought, because right then the hawk smiled at me._

_Then it began to change._

_What the? Hawks can't smile, and if they could, why would they? They don't feel happiness. Only the sadness of losing the kill, or the nice feeling of a full belly._

_It came to me. After all these years of the puppet games, he came back to mess with us even more. The being that could have saved Rachel, despite his little war with Crayak._

_The Ellimist._

_Suddenly, I wasn't in my territory any more. I was surrounded by light blue mist. It swirled around me, but I had no idea if it was a wall, the air, or what. I stood on the air, with no floor. Or maybe it was the floor. If it was, then the floor looked just like the walls, or air, or whatever. It was very scary just seeing myself sort of float there without my wings. There was nothing under my feet, and no wing to fly with in case I suddenly fell down through the air...or floor, I'm still fuzzy about the whole thing._

_Then I wasn't alone anymore. Jake, Cassie, and Marco were there too, looking as confused and scared as I felt. I had no idea why he pulled us there, but I had a feeling I was about to find out, wether I liked it or not._

_Marco was the first one of us to say anything. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US?!", he yelled._

_, I shouted at him._

_The Ellimist appeared in his old man costume. "You have sacrafised so much, yet in comparison, so little.", he spoke._

_"What do you mean by that!", Jake yelled. "You didn't save Rachel. Your stupid petty war with Crayak could wait. You always stuck your little finger in the time stream, but you never jumped in the whole way. I don't care what you say, I think you're a frod! That's right, frodfrodfrodfrod, you -" Jake called the Ellimist a few choice words that I would not like to repeat, then gave him the finger for added measure._

_The Ellimist didn't seem to care about what Jake had just said. But look at all that I did do. I helped you save a small sample of the Hork-Bajir race. When Jake gave in to Crayak, and you were pulled into a different time line, but I changed it, and now you are back where you should be. And Tobias...has his morphing ability regained."_

_Cassie looked down at her feet, and I could see she was near tears. Marco made a point of looking around at the swirling blue mist around him. And Jake shut his eyes tightly, and bit his lip so hard it bled slightly. I was the only one that still dared look the Ellimist in the eye. What he said was true, he did help us with all those things. Though, I could never forgive him. The only thing that tied me to humanity instead of letting the hawk instinct just take over me was Rachel._

_, I began._

_Chapter 6 *Jake*_

_, I heard Tobias begin. But that's all I heard him say. He fell to the ground in a tangle of feathers. Cassie gasped, then tried to pick him up to help him, but she gained a dazed look in her eyes, then fell to the clear ground too, nearly directly on top of Tobias. Marco slumped into a sitting position, then shut his eyes and and his chest folded over his legs, his head craned over his knees. He looked very uncomfortable._

_"Guys! Cassie!", I yelled. The next thing I knew I was sprawled on the invisable floor._

_FLASH! "You're it!", Rachel yelped to me. I was off and running towards her. "No tagbacks!", she called behind her shoulder. I switched my course. It was her birthday party. She was turning eight years old. We hadn't known about the yeerks yet. We were just having fun being little kids. My biggest concern at the time was weather or not she was going to like her present. I had gotten her a t-shirt that said, 'Move Over Tinkerbell!' I got her a denim skirt to go with it. All my cousons were there, Jamie, Cassidy, and Simon. My cousons Jordan and Sara were there too, being Rachel's sisters. Cassie was there too, since they had been friends since preschool. I caught up to Simon. "You're it!" I yelled. "Present time!", I heard Aunt Niomi shout. She was trying to be heard above the variously loud kids. The noise got louder. Rachel climbed onto a chair inside the kitchen, and my cousons, her sisters, Cassie, and many of her friends with names I didn't know, all crowded around her. Her mom handed her a present, with purple wrapping that I recignized. My present to her. She unfolded the card and read it out loud, then looked at me and smiled. She ripped the wrapping paper, and lifted the lid that read the name of the store. Her face lit up when she saw the outfit. "Thanks Jake!", she yelled. She gave me a quick hug, and I was no longer scared._

_FLASH! I was eleven years old. It had snowed 13 inches, and school was canceled for the day. No yeerks yet, so we weren't going to spend a school day off on some crazy mission. I was in my backyard, and I had invited Rachel over. Marco was doing something with his dad, so I decided to call Rachel. We were on opposite sides of the yard, and were engaged in a major snowball war. I was packing the snow into a huge wall. Twice it had crumbled partially, then I realized how unsturdy the base was, so I built it back up. When I was finishing up, it was at least four feet high, and two yards wide. It took me about two and a half hours to make it. Rachel on the other hand, had a sturdier wall that was problobly three yards wide, but only three quarters of the height of mine. She had her back turned the other way, and I nailed her hard with a snowball. I laughed, and almost fell face first into the freezing white snow. She spun around. "That's it, this is war!", she yelped. Soon, the air was filled with snowballs flying back and forth._

_FLASH! Another battle. Another slaughter. Another fight. I stared at my couson through wonderful tiger eyes. A grizzley bear just tearing apart the enemy. She seemed not to care about the lives she was damaging. Did she actually enjoy the war? Did she long for the thrill rush of hurting the enemy? She seemed like a huge brown monster with fur, just trying to kill. How long until she goes off the deep end? I knew the kind of darkness that was growing inside her. There was always a warrior inside of her, just fighting for a way out. My beautiful couson, turned into a killing machine. I couldn't think like that, it wouldn't do me any good. I had to try to ignore the fact. No time to worry about that right now though, it wouldn't help me at all. There was a hork-bajir trying to rip open my back. I could worry later._

_FLASH!_

_Too many painful memories. Too many sweet ones, and too many terribly sad ones. All about my couson Rachel. I was having all these flashbacks, and all I could do was wonder why._

_Chapter 7 *Marco*_

_FLASH! "You know, you really should go out with me." I was in sixth grade, before the yeerks, and Tobias hadn't been coming to our school yet. I was in the school hallway, and was late to class. I didn't care, but I bet Rachel did. She had an expression that could only mean 'What, do you think I'm some kind of idiot?'. Lots of girls would love to go out with me. I've heard plenty of girls call me cute, wether or not it was to my face, or I just happened to overhear a conversation. Of course, I never actually eavesdropped on people's conversations before. Rachel didn't seem to have a reply to my question. "Is it because I am roughly two feet shorter than you are?" I questioned her. "Marco, if we were the last two people on planet earth, I still wouldn't ever go out with you.", she replied. Rachel isn't exactly modest, yet she doesn't brag. She knows she's pretty, but she would definetly rather be Xena, warrior princess. I was about to say something else too, but was interrupted by Rachel. "I have to get to class.", she spoke. Without another word, she had walked briskly into Mrs. Walker's bioligy class. I didn't even have time to get another word in. Sighing, I slightly kicked the locker that I was standing by. Not only had I past up a chance to go out with Rachel, but I really didn't feel like going to algebra._

_Suddenly, a strange memory entered my head. I did not know this memory, at least not from this time. Could it be from...another time line?_

_FLASH! "Mom!", I shreaked. I ran after her. Could she possibly still be alive? Rachel ran after me, wether or not it was because she thought I was insane, or something else. I don't know, but she ran after me. We raced down the steps, to the first floor. "There!", I hollared pointing at her. We pounded after her, yet she had about a hundred foot lead. She shoved some man aside, and took the revolving door, in effort to escape us. We reached the revolving door, and I jumped into the section after the one she was standing in. Suddenly, she spun the door around fast, and my hands got squished between the doors. Blood seeped through my interlocked fingers. Why would my mom purposely hurt me? "Hey, you ok?", she shouted. I responed, "After her! Stay on her!" She kept running after my mom. I scrambled to my feet, and I was soon up and running once again. I couldn't find her. Rachel stopped and looked around. "She has a wig.", I gasped panting. We saw a brunette lady clumped together with people going up the steps, doing exactly the opposite of what she shoulf have been doing. We chased her outside, then she ran into the street. Despite, the traffic we still ran after her. We reached the end of the street, and our surroundings held a dumpster, and a stack of bottles. I crept toward the dumpster. Our of nowhere, my mom appeard and nailed Rachel in the side of the head with a glass bottle. Hard. Her eyes rolled in different directions, and tears blurred her vision. Rachel kicked the side of my mom ,and she was down on her butt. Suddenly, very large hands held me tightly. Hands of a man. Hands of a very large man. Rachel picked up a bottle with jagged edges and nailed the man restraining me. I broke free. We ran. We ran and ran and ran._

_FLASH!_

_Why were all the memories surfacing again? She was dead after all. Dead!_

_Chapter 8 *Cassie*_

_FLASH! Twelve years old, at my house with Rachel. We were in my room, in our sleeping bags. It was about midnight, and we were determined to not fall asleep all night. Rachel had no problem with that, yet it was somewhat of a challange for me. I'm usually not one to stay up late. I had to keep talking, or I'd just flat out fall into a deep sleep. "So.", I said in effort to stay awake. Rachel waited for me to finish. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes then smiled coyly. "Who do you have a crush on? Oh, and don't say you don't have one, because I'd know you're lying.", I said with a huge grin on my face. Rachel smiled sheepishly, a blush creeping up her face. "Okay. Fine, you know me too well. So you know that sort of new kid at school...Tobias?" she admitted. I could honestly say that I was a little surprised. "Yeah. I know him. He's in my history and English classes.", I said keeping a straight face. Rachel obviously wanted to change the subject. She laughed suddenly. "I can't beleive that YOU are crushing on my couson.", she said. "Well, lemme just say that if I have anything to do with it, someday, you and I will be related. You'll be my couson inlaw.", I said giggling. Rachel giggled too. I stopped laughing. I nervously asked "You think he's okay with me being African American and all?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "Cassie Jake is nuts for you. He's one guy out of a million that doesn't look at things like that. He doesn't care about the way you look." I was releived at the very least. "Well, okay.", I said smiling._

_FLASH! "Oh, and I want to go to the Gap so I can get those jeans on sale. Hmm, and American Eagle has that sweater, and I got a coupon for it. And Abracrombie and Finch has that dress... Hollister is having an everything 30% off sale. Those graphic tees at Old Navy are on sale too.", Rachel ran through the list in her head. Of course, she wanted me to come. I hated the mall, but I finally allowed Rachel to drag me from one store to the next. She grabbed my elbow, then pulled me into Gap. She immediatly found the jeans, and fished for her wallet inside her purse. A normal fourteen year old mall rat. She payed for the jeans, then we rushed up the stairs to American Eagle. "Rachel, you have this natural talent for spending.", I said rolling my eyes. She pulled me into American Eagle, found the sweater, then gave the coupon and her money to the girl at the counter. Almost exactly next door to American Eagle is Abracrombie and Finch. She rushed me in, and picked out a light pink sundress. Before I had time to say anything, she rushed into the changing room. I leaned against a rack of denim boot cut jeans and sighed. Shopping with Rachel was always a challange._

_FLASH! The war again. My best friend gone into the dark side. Gone off the deep end. We were sitting in our desks beside each other, in math class. We were in the lowest ranked class since we couldn't keep our grades up with the war. "Hi Rachel.", I said. She grunted, then took her seat. Ms. Stevenson was blabbing on about how pi equeals 3.14, and something about calculing the diameter of a circle. I glanced over at Rachel. She was drawing something in her notebook. Something with blades... two feet... claws... a hork-bajir! That was stupid of her. Anybody in our class could be a controller, including our teacher. She must have finished her drawing, because she put the pencil down. Then she very suddenly picked it back up again, and started violently stabbing it with her pencil. A few other students glanced over at us, wondering what in the world Rachel was doing. My face grew red, and my forehead sweat, realizing that any one of them could have a slimy yeerk in their brain. Controlling their every movment. I quickly snatched up the pencil, and tore the page out of her notebook. I folded the paper, then stashed it into my overall's pocket. I dropped Rachel's pencil back onto her desk. Her blue eyes were narrowed into vertical slits, and she stared at her desk so intensly, that I thought she would drill a hole in it. Rachel turned her head slowly to face me, gave me the evil eye, then watched the teacher's notes on the whiteboard. What was to become of my best friend?_

_FLASH!_

_My best friend was gone forever. The memories would never leave me though. They were to haunt me for the rest of my life._

_Chapter 9 *Tobias*_

_FLASH! I walked to my next class in sixth grade, when I was twelve years old. Oh, and by walked, I mean walked while looking everywhere very carefully. I didn't want to run into any trouble. Andy and Tap-tap didn't pound on me the day before, so I was overdue for an extra hard beating. Then I spotted her. I didn't even know her name yet. Then I saw a guy with dark eyes and dark hair change pace to walk beside her. My heart sank. She has a boyfriend. "Hi Rachel.", the boy said. So her name's Rachel. That's a nice name. Very pretty. "Hi cous.", she replied. My spirits lifted once again. So this kid was just a couson of her. Phew! I considered walking up to her and say hi, but my throat went dry. I felt like I couldn't get any words out. She glanced around the hallway, and her gaze stopped at me. We made eye contact, but only for about a second and a half. Her georgeous blue eyes darted back to the floor, and her cheeks turned slightly pink. I felt my face growing hot too. Was it possible she liked me? I tried to maintain a straight face, but inside I was grinning. That was the highlight of my day._

_FLASH! ...A flash of gold, way down the beach. A graceful figure pushing over the dunes to meet us. Rachel! The others were involved in a game of frizbee that seemed to include a lot of splashing. I jumped up, and started to run towards her. She saw me and smiled. I slowed as I neared her, breathing hard. Suddenly I had my arms around her. I buried my face in her hair. She held me tightly. "Bad.", she said. "Yeah.", I whispered. "Real bad. I came close to, you know. Awfully close. I was so...I mean, I didn't..." I took a couple of shaky breaths. "I lost myself. Didn't know who I was. Not sure I do now." "Tobias," she said quietly, "I know who you are." A long long time while neither of us spoke. Neither of us moved. Then, she smiled. "Hey, it's nice and warm, but there are some killer thermals.", she said. I smiled. "Lets fly." "Yeah.", she agreed. "Right after I do this." She kissed me. "Okay, now lets fly.", she said and laughed her self mocking Rachel laugh. In a short time we were coasting on a thermal, high over the beach. Over the city. Over everything. Who am I? What am I? A bird. A boy. Something not quite human. Something more than human. The person Rachel loves. I discovered the answer to what I am, who I am, isn't something to be said in a single word or a single moment. It could take a lifetime to figure out who I am. For now, I'm willing to hang in there, floating on a thermal. Biding my time..._

_FLASH! ...Rachel lay there in suspended animation. She slowly demorphed back to human. I slowly morphed to human. I knew in my heart what would happen to her. What would happen next. The snake lay motionless in her mouth. Rachel was beautiful. She was my everything. She was something I couldn't live without. Rachel spit the dead Tom in snake morph out of her mouth. She was surrounded. I knew what would happen. I began to cry. Hawks can't cry. Humans can. I needed Rachel to see how much I cared, how much she meant to me. She saw us. Well, she saw the viewscreen of us. Her gaze stopped on me, and made a hole in my heart. I don't know how, but she knew why I morphed. I sobbed. I mourned. "I love you.", she said. She smiled her last smile. For me. Then the polar bear killed her with a single blow. Nobody moved. I cried, and cried. You may know what it's like losing a person you love. I doubt you know what it's like being there when the person you're in love with is killed by a sludgy yeerk in polar bear morph._

_She's dead! Accept it? I can't_

_Chapter 10 *Tobias*_

_Finally after what felt like hours, the memories ended. Yet the pain did not go away. I discovered the Ellimist had made me human for the rest of his visit. Since I was human, I cried. I didn't care that Jake, Marco, and Cassie were there. I cried. I had no reason to feel embaressed. Everybody else was crying too. I wasn't a kid anymore. I was an adult. Didn't care, I still cried._

_What did he do that for?! It was completely unnesesary. Marco decided to ask him after cursing a few times._

_The Ellimist in old man form smiled, then slowly dissapeared. I cursed him. "I hate him! He's terrible! He is just as bad as Crayak!" I still cried._

_I loved Rachel. I thought I'd never see her again._

_We were all in my meadow. I wiped the salty water off of my face._

_Chapter 11 *Rachel*_

_Heaven. Literally. Heaven. No anger. No worry. No pain. Soon, I wasn't there anymore. I was surrounded by blackness._

_Huh? I was human again. Older than I was when I left earth. I knew in my head that I was twenty six. Don't ask me how, I just knew. All of the human emotions came rushing back to me. Anger, sadness, regret, guilt, and so much more. It was overwhelming._

_The Ellimist. He looked like an old man, but looks can be deceiving. "Where am I!? What happened!?", I asked him. I counted in my head. I died at age nineteen. I was-oh my gosh. Dead for seven years._

_The Ellimist answered my questions. "You are halfway between heaven and earth.", I looked around at the terrible darkness._

_"Ellimist.", I said my voice quavering. "H-how are my f-friends. And Tobias. How are they?" In about a nanosecond, the Ellimist had showed me all that happened the past seven years. I shreaked. "They're misrable! How could you not help them!? And by the way, those flasbacks you made them have were VERY unessesary!" The only good thing that I could comprehend was that earth was safe._

_"I am here to give you a choice.", he said. I stared at him blankly._

_"Do you wish to return to earth?" He smiled. My head spun._

_"But. Crayak." I spit out._

_The Ellimist smiled. "Crayak lost. He could care less about wether or not you return to earth."_

_"Oh my god." I couldn't process it. Gaining my humanity back. Being a human again. Another chance at life. I gave my life up for humanity's future. It would be selfish to say yes if there was consiquences, only that there wasn't any. It wasn't even a question. Of cource he knew what I would say. There's only one answer when someone offers you something like that._

_"You know my answer," I told him._

_"Just say the word Rachel."_

_"Yes."_


	2. The Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know why I'm not posting all four of these at once this is an old fandom lolol xox

Chapter 1 *Rachel*

 

        "Yes.", I said breathlessly.  I took my last breath in the afterlife.  Not knowing what to expect next.  I shut my eyes tightly.

 

        I heard gasps all around me.  I slowly opened one eye, only staring at the ground.  I was stitting cross-legged on the grass.  I had on my morphing suit, but it was larger.  Long skinny legs...I looked at my hand.  My hand?  I had a hand!  I was fully human!  I was older, twenty six.  My hair was down farther than my waist.  Some of it lay in folds on the grass.  I guess hair grows a lot if you don't cut it for seven years.  Talk about split ends! 

 

        I was afraid to look up.  Was I back on earth?  The gasps faded away, and everything was silent.  I lifted my head up very slowly and cautiously...

 

 

 

Chapter 2 *Tobias*

 

        Oh my god.  I couldn't talk.  Couldn't breathe.  I was staring at something I lost seven years ago.  Something that I couldn't possibly be seeing.  But there it was, right in front of my face.  This has to be a dream.  I thought I was going to wake up any second then, as a hawk perched on a tree branch.

 

        Only I didn't.   

 

        My throat went numb.  I couldn't take my gaze off her.

 

        Rachel.  How could...

 

        After what seemed like forever, Rachel looked up.  Her gaze rested on Jake.  Then it shifted to Marco.  Wandered to Cassie, and made eye contact.  She looked at me, and our eyes met.  I tried to talk, but I couldn't speak.  The Ellimist...I can't beleive...but Crayak...  I didn't care.  Rachel was there right in front of me.  She was older.  Much older.  She had grown as the years passed on.  Then again, so did I.

 

        We were about a yard away from each other.  A few seconds ago, it had been infanite space between us.  I had to touch her.  Had to know she was real.  Was I hallucinating?  My legs gave way underneath me, and I dropped down to my knees.  They had failed me, and I was eye level with Rachel.     The next movement was all a blur.  I don't remember exactly, but before I knew it, I had my arms around her.  She held me tightly.  I held her.  I never wanted to let go.  She was real, I could feel her.  Felt her breathing. 

 

        I finally let go.  My voice came back into my throat.  I stood up, and she stood up too.  Clumsily though.  She was not in touch with her human body's functions again.  Cassie hugged her quickly, and Jake did too.  She even hugged Marco. 

 

        Not one word had been spoken yet.  Rachel smiled.  She tried to say something.  "I bkal.  Gud, I soo surty I clepht.  I'll never cleave agwain I trair."  Her words were disordered.  Rachel's expression made her look frustrated, but even her expression was disordered.  Sort of like how I imagine I looked when I morphed to human.  She made a few more sounds with her mouth, then flicked her tounge.  "Sam Thoune."  She tried to speak again.  "I.  I'm back.  God, I'm so sorry that I left.  I never want to leave again.  I won't ever.  I swear."  Rachel smiled, lighting her whole face up.

 

        But it wasn't her fault that she...died.  Rachel knew that in her heart.  Though, she wasn't ever going to blame Jake.  He did what he had to do.  Besides, Rachel was back again.  That's all that mattered.

 

        Alive.  Whole.  Beautiful.  I looked into the setting sun.  It was late.  I looked at Rachel again.  Her gaze met mine.

 

         The few inches between our faces dissapeared. 

 

        "Uh, I hate to break this up, but Tobias, you have to demorph."  Marco reminded me about five seconds later.  Oops, I had completely forgotten they were standing there.  I didn't feel embaressed though.  It felt natural to be with Rachel again. 

 

        Rachel went pale.  She didn't want me to demorph.  I put my arm around her waist and smiled.  Taking a deep breath, "No, I don't.  Not anymore."  I pulled Rachel closer to me.  Everybody's eyes went wide.  I knew what I was giving up.   

 

        Goodbye hawk.  Goodbye forever.

 

 

 

Chapter 3 *Cassie* 

 

        I checked my watch.  Twenty minutes later, I looked at Tobias with a surprised expression.  He was smiling a bitter-sweet smile.  Rachel, of cource, was thrilled.  She was grinning like it was the best day of her life, which it may have been.  Rachel had wanted Tobias to overstay the two hour limit, and be fully human again.  She gently kissed Tobias on the cheek, then rested her head on his shoulder. 

 

        Tobias was a nothlit for the second time.  I couldn't believe it.  Well, the war was over.  So he had no reason to keep his morphing ability anway. 

 

        "You know, shouldn't we tell someone about this?", Marco thought out loud motioning to Rachel.  To my surprise, Jake answered.  "You know, I think we better let everybody just find out.  I want to keep this quiet."  We all nodded in agreement.  A smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

 

        My best friend was back.  She was alive again.  My perspective for the Ellimist changed greatly.  He's not as bad as I thought.  He just wanted to help without breaking the rules of his millenia long war with Crayak. 

 

        "Where are you going to stay?", I asked Rachel and Tobias.  They glanced at each other.  I answered my own question.  "Rachel can stay with me-"  "And Tobias can stay with me.", Jake finished.  "Okay.", they both agreed.  "Oh, but Cassie, I seriously need something besides my morphing suit.", Rachel said.  Tobias ran away from us until he was out of where we could see him.  He came back with a dark gray tee shirt, and denim shorts for himself.  He slipped them on over his morphing suit.  He tossed Rachel a light purple tee, and a skort. 

 

        "Remember that box we kept in my meadow?", he asked.  "Oh yeah.  I completely forgot.", Rachel said, then slapped her forehead once.  She pulled on the skort, and slipped the shirt on over her morphing suit.  They were a little small, but she still fit into them.  "Okay, well now that Rachel is fashionably satisfied...", Marco said with a smirk.  Rachel took a swing at him, but Marco dodged it.  Jake, Tobias and I smiled, and almost laughed.  Marco snickered, and Rachel folded her arms in a mocking way.  It all seemed almost normal again.

 

        Tobias gasped.  "What?", Rachel asked.  "Well, we don't have to tell anybody else, but we at least have to tell Ax.", he reminded us.  I returned, "Don't worry.  I have a hologaphic-phone-thing at my house where I can contact Ax."  There was a chorus of okays, and goods.  "Rachel and I'll tell him when we get to my house.", I said.

 

        Looking up, the stars twinkled above me.  "Its late.", Jake reminded voicing my thoughts.  "We should get going."  There was a large chorus of okays.  "See you guys tommorrow.", Marco said waving.  He walked away, after glancing at Rachel one more time.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tobias squeeze Rachel's hand, then somewhat reluctantly let go.  "Bye.", we all said.  Tobias and Jake started in the opposite direction of Rachel and I.  I walked toward my house with my once alive again, best friend Rachel.

 

 

 

Chapter 4 *Rachel*

 

        I was alive again.  Still mildly out of touch with my human body, but alive all the same.  We walked in silence for a few minutes, not quite sure what to say.  "Wow.", Cassie whispered.  She stopped walking, so I did too.  "What?", I pressed.  "Its just...I thought I was never going to see you ever again.  I had no idea that the Ellimist would save you. I thought..."  Her throat clenched, and the tears welled up Cassie's eyes.

 

        "Cassie.  Here I am, right here.  Let it go, I'm back and I'm never leaving again.", I said kindly.  I don't think she was expecting that.  I admit it.  I'm not exactly the sentimental or emotional type.  I hugged her, and she wiped away the one tear the had managed to escape her eye.

 

        We continued to walk the rest of the way to her house.  "I hope the crowds finally left from Jake and Marco's huge speech.", I said.  I didn't want anybody to see me yet.  Cassie's jaw dropped.  "How did you know about the speech?", she asked.  I returned with, "Right before the Ellimist sent me back to earth, he showed me everything that had happened from the moment I was killed by the polar bear, to the end of his recent visit."  "Oh.", she said.

 

        The crowd must have finally left, because we didn't run into many people.  A few kids saw Cassie and recignized her.  Though, they didn't recignize me.  To them, I was just some regular, blond, young woman in her twenties.  We both walked past them silently, not wanting to draw attention.

 

        Cassie and I chatted the whole way to her house.  She couldn't really explain the things that I missed though, the Ellimist had showed me all of that.  All the memories of everybody, from all of the Animorph's points of views.  So, basically we just chatted.  At one point I did something utterly stupid.  "I can't beleive you and Jake aren't going out anymore.  I always figured that you would have gotten married right after the war."  Right after I said that, I wanted to hit myself with something hard.  My eye caught sight of a cinder block from left over construction.   I shook it off.

 

        Cassie was looking down at her muddy sneakers, and I felt terrible.  She kicked a clump of dirt.  "Well, Rachel.  The war changed all of us.  In some way, somehow, it changed us all."  She looked up, barely lifting her head.  This time I did laugh.  "You could say that again!", I said giggling.  Cassie looked angry and surprised at the same time.  "I can't beleived you just laughed!", she said sounding horrified.  I fell silent.  She smiled the tiniest smile I've ever seen.  "Sorry.", I said meekly.  "Its okay."  I sighed slightly from releif.

 

        After what seemed like a decade, we finally got to her house.  Two stories, plus a basement.  It was bigger than most of the houses, but not a mansion.  Instead of a lock or a key, she had a keyboard with a combonation.  She punched it in, and the door slid open.  I raised an eyebrow.  "Andalite technology.", we both said at the exact same time.

 

        I didn't realize until then how hungry I was.  "Uh, Cass?  Do you have any grub?" I asked, my stomach growling.  "Hungry?" she asked me.  "Well, I guess that coming back to life works up an appatite.", I said with a grin.  She laughed.  "I didn't eat yet either.", she said pulling out a box of pizza from the fridge.  "How many do you want?" she asked me.  "Two please."  She pulled out four slices of cheese pizza from the box, then stuck it in the microwave.  "I ordered last night."  "I can see that."

 

        The microwave yelled at us, Cassie put two slices of pizza on two plates.  She slid one over to me.  She sat down next to me.  The smell of pizza was wonderful.  I took a bite.  By "I took a bite" I mean I bit down, tried to chew, then it came out of my mouth in a discusting lump.  It landed on my plate.  "What was that?", she asked me, looking a tad bit disgusted.  I smiled sheepishly.  "Sorry.  I.  Um.  Forgot how to eat."  I picked up the lump of chewed pizza with my pointer finger and my thumb.  I quickly deposited it in the trash can.  Picked up my pizza.  Took a bite. Chewed. Swallowed.

 

        I sighed.  "I feel like a two year old again.  I have to learn how to talk.  Then to eat.  I'm lucky I remembered how to stand up or walk.", I felt exasperated.  Cassie laughed a little bit.  I didn't blame her.  "You're just out of touch with your human body.  You'll get better at it.", she told me.  "I hope you're right.", I mumbled under my breath. 

 

        Cassie yawned then stretched.  I checked the clock.  Eleven eighteen.  My eyelids grew heavy.  I was exausted.  "Lets go upstairs.", Cassie said.  "Sure."  We walked into her room.  She pulled an air mattress out the closet, and blew it up.  She handed me a pillow and a blanket, then flopped down onto her bed.  "Night Rache."  "Night Cass."  I fell asleep almost immediatly.

 

        I had but one dream last night.  Infact, it wasn't exactly a dream.  I...don't really know what to call it.  I was one again surrounded by the same blackness when the Ellimist had met me, only hours earlier.  "Thank you.", I whispered.  Happy tears were streaming down my cheeks.  "Are you happy Rachel?", the Ellimist asked me.  He knew my answer.

 

 

 

Chapter 5 *Jake*

 

        I woke up the next morning in my home.  It looks a lot like Cassie's, only the rooms were a little bit larger.  It wasn't a mansion, but still a very nice home.  I rolled off my bed.  Tobias was staring at the ceiling with his hands folded over his lap.  I loaned him a air matress and a pillow and blankets last night.  He saw me looking at him.  "Still can't process it, huh?" I asked him.  Lying down, he shook his head.  "Nope."  I couldn't believe it either.  So many years ago, I thought I had sent her to her death.  Well, I guess I _did_ send her to her death.  But.  She was back again.

 

        I peeked out the window.  The sun was just peeking out over the horizon.  My bedroom has a wonderful view, where I loved to watch the sun rise and set.  Tobias interrupted me and my thoughts.  "Do you think that they contacted the andalites and Ax yet?"  I didn't know, so that's what I said.  "Neither do I.", Tobias responded.  "You hungry?" I asked him.  "Sure.", he said. 

 

        I trotted down the steps and into the kitchen, with Tobias following me.  "How long has it been since you had a meal besides...you know...mice and all that other stuff?" I asked him cautiously.  He paused.  "Too long Jake man.  Too long.", he said shaking his head.  We didn't eat dinner last night.  We had collapsed from pure exaustion. 

 

        I smiled.  "Well, all I have is cereal for breakfast."  I took out a box of cheerios, and a box of frosted shredded wheat.  Placed them both on the counter.  I took two bowls out of the cabnet, and slid one over to Tobias.  I poured mostly cheerios with some shredded wheat.  Tobias did the opposite with mostly shredded what and some cheerios.  We both poured in milk.  Like you care what we had for breakfast.

 

        "Do you think we should call Cassie and Rachel?" I asked after we finished our cereal.  He glanced at the clock, and I followed his gaze.  Eight fourty.  "Give it a shot.", he told me.  I punched in Cassie's number into my phone.  She picked up on the fourth ring.

 

        "Ugh, hello?" I heard Cassie say.  "Oops.  Um, sorry.  Were you sleeping?" I asked her.  She sounded tired and groggy.  "No no.  It's fine.", she said.  I could just see her standing there rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  "Okay.  Well, Tobias and I wanted to know if you and Rachel contacted Ax yet."  "Oh my gosh, I completely forgot.  I'll do it right now."  "No, wait!  Lemme call Marco.  Can Tobias, Marco and I come to your house so we can be there when you contact Ax?" I anxiously asked her.  "Yeah, sure.  Why not.", she said.  "Thanks Cassie."  "Bye Jake.  See ya soon."  "K.  Bye."

 

        I turned around to face Tobias.  "We're going to Cassie's to be there when we contact Ax.  Marco too.  "Ok.", he said.  I turned around, and started to walk upstairs to dress.  (We had crashed last night, so I hadn't even gotten time to change.)

 

        "Uh, Jake?" Tobias said stopping me.  "What do you think Ax will say about my decision?"  I felt his fear and nervousness.  Tobias will never morph again.  "How do you think he's going to react?" Tobias pressed.  I shook my head.  "I don't know."

 

        "Lemme call Marco.", I said changing the subject.  I dialed his number, and he picked up on the first ring.  "Hi.", I heard Marco say.  Before, Marco slept in until like ten.  Now he wakes up at six o'clock, because he has terrible trouble sleeping.  He sounded wide awake.  I explained the situation to Marco.  "Sure.  Should I go straight to Cassie's house, or your's?" he asked.  I thought for a moment before replying.  "Um...go to her house.", I said finally.  We said bye, then hung up.

 

        "I'll just wear what I wore last night.", I heard Tobias say.  "Doesn't matter.  Who cares.", I said to him.  I went upstairs to change.  Tobias sat down on a couch, then turned on the tv.

 

 

 

Chapter 6 *Marco*

 

        I hung up the phone.  Looking around my house, I walked up the steps.  My house had a outdoor/indoor pool, and many many rooms.  I owned a Jaguar and Honda Pilot.  Not that I'm bragging.  Cassie and Jake understood that they could have a house like mine, but they preferred not to.  I had an acting job in a new movie coming out.  I wasn't the main star or main character, but I'm the main special effects. 

 

        I dressed, blue tee-shirt, and shorts.  It was June, and freaking hot outside.  You would've thought you walked straight into a gigantic oven.  Cassie's house was a very short distance away.  Not even two miles.  My cars were rediculisly hot inside, so I walked.  A few people saw me, and waved politely.  Nobody was rude to me, Jake, or Cassie, since we saved their butts from becoming yeerk controlled.

 

        A few people shouted and pointed, but mostly kids.  Little kids I mean.  When I got to Cassie's house, Jake and Tobias were already there.  The front door was left wide open, so I walked straight inside.  "Bout time." I heard Rachel say loudly.  She was standing with her arms folded, between Cassie and Tobias.

 

        I rolled my eyes.  "Yep, Rachel is definetly back.", I said trying to make my voice sound exasperated.  "Xena's back!", Rachel said gleefully.  "Should be try to reach Ax now?" Cassie asked us.  We all said yes, but Rachel, who said, "Lets do it!" She sounded giddy.  I responded, "We're all lucky we're not going on a suicidal mission right now, or we'd all be dead." I rolled my eyes at her.  I was trying to bring the normalicy back to us.  Hey, our friend that died, and was laying in a bottle of ashes in the cemitary, buried underground, is standing in Cassie's living room!  I have to try to make the whole thing seem _somewhat_ normal.

 

        Cassie picked up a small orange box, that was about the size of my fist.  It had a large red button in the center.  "Real high-tech.", I mumbled under my breath.  She pressed the button, then dropped it on the floor and took a few steps back.  The box grew about a foot wide and long, with a keypad.  She typed in 'Andalite home planet'.  Then she typed in "Prince Aximilli'.  The box flashed bright green, then grew to the size of a large tv, so we all stepped back a little bit.  Then it shrunk to the size of my fist again, and became transparent.  A hologram of Ax beamed out of the box.  In the background, we saw saw the andalite's red gold sky, and the blue green grass.

 

        <Hello Cassie, Prince Jake, Marco...>his voice trailed off after seeing Tobias in human morph.  <Tobias.>  "Hi Ax.", we all echoed.  Something was missing...what about Rachel?!  I turned around Rachel was behind Tobias, Cassie, and Jake.  "Um, Ax buddy.  We have something to show you."  <What may that be?>, he asked us.  The three of them stepped out of the way revealing Rachel.  Ax looked clearly disturbed, like we just shook his reality.  <An Ellimist trick!>, he said.  "No Ax, not a trick.  For real.", Tobias said.  Rachel added in, "Crayak lost.  He could care less, whether or not I live."  She had a mischevious grin on her face.  <I...never thought...>  "I know Ax.  Neither did I.", Rachel supplied.

 

        Ax shook his andalite head.  <Okay, well, I need to be going.  There is a->  Tobias cut him off there.  "Wait.  Um, Ax?  There's something else you need to know..."  Tobias trailed off, and he sent all of us a look.  We walked out of the room, and shut the door.  Would Ax be accepting with Tobias's decision to be permanentally human?

 

 

 

Chapter 7 *Ax*

 

        Tobias looked nervous, though still out of touch with his human expressions.  "Okay, so Ax.  We are shorm, are we not?" he asked me.  The question surprised me.  <Yes, of course.>  A shorm is a deep friend.  It means tail blade.  A shorm is somebody you trust so much, that if they put their tail blade on your throat, you would not worry.  Tobias and I are shorm, and no matter how strange it sounds, he is my nephew, and I am his uncle.  He is my brother Elfangor's son, even though it sound very ubsurd.

 

        "Well, I'm a nothlit.", he blurted.  <I know.  You are a hawk nothlit.> I didn't understand.  Of course he was a nothlit.  He was a red-tailed hawk nothlit.  Tobias shook his head, then looked at his feet ashamed.  "No Ax, I mean, I'm a _human_ nothlit."  My hearts stopped.  <W-what?> I asked.  <I'm sorry.  I must not have heard correctly.>  "No Ax-man.  You did."

 

        <Was it...on purpose?>  I asked him.  "Yes.", he said quietly.  It just did not add up.  Why would Tobias abandon his morphing ability?  To never fly, never soar?

 

        Never morph an andalite again.

 

        It came to me.  I knew why Tobias made himself permanentally human.  Rachel was back, and he wanted be with her.  <Why did you do that?> I asked him, even though I knew the answer.  "Well, I'm done fighting the yeerks.  We humans did our job.  We're finished.  There's no need for me to have my morphing ability anymore."  Lies.  Lies from Tobias, my shorm.  Actually, maybe not lies.  It may have been part of his answer, but not the whole thing.  For some reason, he did not feel comfortable telling me the truth.

 

        That hurt me the most.  Not that Tobias gave up his morphing power, but that he didn't trust me enough to tell me why he did that.  <Rachel.>, I said accusingly.  "Okay...well that too.", he mumbled.  <Did she tell you to become human?>  Tobias looked at me with intense human eyes.  "No, and don't accuse her.  _I_ chose to become human!  _I_ chose to abandon my morphing powers!"

 

        I paused before responding.  <You still carry the andalite heritige within you.>  Tobias looked back up.  "I know Ax-man.  I find it an honor that I'm the son of a great andalite war prince."  That made me feel better.  I protected my brother's past.  The andalite council knows of his mishap with giving my human friends the morphing abitlity.  Though it broke the law of Seerow's kindness, earth is saved.  If my brother Elfangor hadn't given the humans the morphing powers, earth would be lost.  My people reached earth too late.  My five human friends and I kept the abomination's hands full...sort of.  But earth is safe.  Rachel is back, and I am a war prince.  Elfangor will go down in history as a hero.

 

        "Look, I have to go kind of...", Tobias said snapping me out of my thoughts.  <Of cource.>  "Um, Ax?"  <Yes Tobias.>  "Do you accept my decision?"  I nodded my head, as many humans have taught me.  It is a gesture meaning yes.  <Yes.>  "Good.  Oh, and um.  Where can I get one of these holagram things?" he asked me.  I thought.  <Cassie should have some others, they were a gift from the andalite millitary.>  "Okay.  Bye Ax-man."  <Bye Tobias.>  I watched as my holographic screen went black.  Bright yellow letters appeared on the screen.  _Lost Signal.  Please Stand By._

Chapter 8 *Rachel*

 

        The door swung open, and Tobias came in with the holigraphic-watcha-ma-call-it-thing.  He handed it back to Cassie.  We were silent for a few moments, then I just _had_ to say something.  I hate silence.  "So, what did Ax think?" I asked.  "He was accepting.", Tobias said.  I let go a sigh of releif.  I think the rest of the room did too. 

 

        "Sorry, but there's something I have to do at home.", Jake said suddenly.  "What?", I asked him.  "I have to write a book on our trip to the planet far away.  For the second war.", he explained.  Marco offered, "I can help.  I was there too."  "Sure.", Jake said.  Cassie said, "As strange as it sounds, I need to go to work.  I have animals to attend to, then I have to visit the Hork-Bajir here on earth tommorrow." 

 

        Marco, Jake, and Cassie left to go to their various destinations.  Tobias and I still stood in Cassie's house.  "Feels good to be back on earth.", I said to him.  He smiled his human smile.  Tobias is coming back in contact with his human expressions.  I hope I am too.  "Glad you're back.", was all he said. 

 

        I coughed.  "Uh, look.  Do you wanna do something on Saturday?  A movie?"  My heart was beating too fast, and I prayed the blood wasn't rushing to my face.  Gosh, Tobias and I had fought side by side on missions that made you want to wet your bed, yet _this_ scared me the most?!  I was winning my battle to control the nervousness and tension.

 

        Tobias was winning his too.  He kept his cool, and I barely kept mine.  "Sure.", he calmly responded.  "Cool.", I said  "I have to go.", he said suddenly.  He didn't tell me where though.  He just kissed my forehead, then left.  I had a feeling I knew where he was going.  Back to his territory, where the hawk in him still lived.  It must have hurt him greatly, to abandon that power, but I'm still glad he did. 

 

        I considered following him, but decided against it.  He needed to be there alone.  I didn't take it to offense, I understood.  Instead, I sat down on Cassie's sofa in her living room, and turned on the television to the news.  The reporter was yacking away. 

 

        "We are experiencing very extremly hot weather conditions.  In the next week, the temperature is going to reach one hundered and twenty nine degrees, setting a record for the Pennsylvania area."  I gaped at the television.  One hundered and twenty nine?!  Oh my god!  "The expert scientists are hypothisising this is because of global warming."  Jeez, I never thought global warming was _that_ powerful!

 

        "We are also going to experiance a very large amount of rain near the end of the month.  It is supposed to rain for five days straight in fact, so that should help clear up the gigantic heat wave a little."  This was very unusual weather.  "Now here's George with the sports.", the reporter said.  I pressed the television's power button, and the screen flickered then went black.

 

        I checked the calender in Cassie's kitchen.  July nineteenth.  Then I walked to the sliding glass door, and peeked at the thermometer.  One hundered and three!?  Yeesh!  I set the air conditioning even higher.  I wondered how Tobias was doing in this heat.

 

 

 

Chapter 9 *Cassie*

 

        I walked to the Gardens, enjoying the summer air.  Man, but JEEZ was it hot!  I couldn't run in all this heat, and I immediatly wished I had brought a cold water bottle or something, though it wouldn't have stayed cold for long.  Luckily, most people finally got used to us Animorphs, and we're not the huge fad or anything anymore.  I reached the Gardens, and crossed over to the area that was more like a zoo.

 

        "Cassie!" I heard a voice yell.  Turning my head in the direction of the sound, I saw Amanda.  Amanda has long dark brown hair, and pitch black eyes.  What's really creepy, is that she's kind of like a female Jake.  She has the same characteristics of him too, besides the eyes, hair, and complexion.  She is a natural leader, and always seems to know what to do.  I smiled and waved.

 

        I caught up to her.  Amanda's main task was to take care of a baby gorrila that's too small to take the rough play with his brother's and sisters.  His leg needed treatment, because the during his rough play, he had broken a bone.  "How's Greg?" I asked her.  That's what we decided to name the gorilla.  "Better.", she said.  "He'll be ready to start interacting with his siblings soon.  He healed very quickly." 

 

        As if to confirm she was correct, Greg attempted to climb onto her head, but could only make it up to her shoulder.  That's how small he is.  I lifted him off, scared he would fall and hurt himself.  We both laughed.  "He's a little show off, that's what!", I said giggling.

 

        I put Greg back down, keeping one eye watchfully on him.  She slapped her forehead like the thought just occured to her.  "I'm so glad that Jake, Marco, and the andalites made it back safely, and in one piece."  I nodded.  "Me too.  I was starting to worry." 

 

        I almost mentioned Rachel, but stopped myself.  I bit my tounge to keep from saying something stupid.  It wasn't time to let people know about Rachel yet, no matter how much I wanted to tell someone.  "I was in the crowd yesterday trying to see them, but there was so many people!  Lots of flash photography too.  I couldn't get a good shot!"  Amanda's words shook me out of thoughts of Rachel.  As well as working in the gardens, Amanda enjoys taking pictures.

 

        She picked up the binder she was using to keep Greg's record of progress, and used it to fan herself.  "How about this heat wave!", she said exasperated.  "It's more than a heat wave!  It's like the freaking Sahara Desert out here!", I shouted.

 

        I looked down at Greg to see the little gorilla playing with his toes.  He didn't seem to mind the heat at all, and I felt a prick of jelousy.  Brushing the feeling off, I checked my watch which read quarter to twelve.  "I have to go.  I have some elephants to attend too."  I said a quick goodbye, and Amanda laughed.  "Later!", she called to my back which was retreating down the corridor. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10 *Jake*

 

        Marco and I were walking to my house.  By that I mean we were walking to my house while Marco complained about the heat, and I rolled my eyes and called him a baybe.  "Marco, quit being such a whiny jerk!  Get over the heat!", I finally exploded. 

 

        We FINALLY reached my house, and Marco immediatly ran inside.  He shouted,"Air conditioning!  Thank god!  I thought I'd never feel you again!"  I puched him on the shoulder and laughed.  "Where's your paper?  Oh, and a pencil.", he asked me.  I laughed.  "Marco, we humans are now in touch with the andalites.  We may be a century or so behind in their technology, but we still own computers at the very least." 

 

        Marco winced.  "I don't see the point in writing a story about the trip.  Practically a million people were there for our speech, can't they just watch that?  It was on every channel, and they'll be showing reruns of it for a year!"  "Marco, you may be twenty seven, but you _still_ act like you're three.", I said trying to get the best of him.  I pulled out my new laptop, which was an Apple.  People practically had to beg on hands and knees for me to take it.  I had wanted to refuse, because it made me feel like I was taking advantage of people.

 

        I placed the laptop on a desk in my kitchen, and plugged in the power and L.A.N. connection cords.  I sat down, and Marco sat on me.  He smirked.  I shoved him off and said, "Marco pull up your own chair, and get off my floor."  "Hey, you dumped me onto the floor!", he hollered.

 

        Marco ruefully grabbed a chair, and started pulling it over.  On his way, he glanced out the window.  "Holy crap on a cracker!", he shouted.  I followed his gaze which led to my thermometer outside of my sliding glass door.  One hundered and nine degrees!  "Holy-"  Then I said some words that would get you some soap in the mouth.

 

        "This weather's going to make history.", Marco said still gawking at the thermometer.  "Seriously.", I agreed.  I shook my head, trying to shake off the assumption that came over me.  "Could this weather possibly be because of...no.  No way, it's not logical."  "What?", Marco asked staring at me.  "Nothing.", I said shaking my head.  "Lets start the stupid book.", I said trying to ignore my idea.

 

        Another mistake I have made.

 

 

 

Chapter 11 *Tobias*

 

        I walked to what used to be my territory.  Yeah yeah, Rachel problobly knew where I was headed, but she didn't follow me.  I was thankful she didn't.  I needed some time to think.  Alone.  After clearing the streets, sidewalks and people, I broke into a run. 

 

        I still don't know why I even went back.  What was the use of it?  Stupid Tobias.  Stupid. 

 

        Walking into my old territory as a human seemed strange.  Usually I arrived as a hawk, not a human.  After I cleared the streets and sidewalks, there was nobody in sight.  I broke into a run, wondering why I had come back.

 

        The woods was my home.  "The woods _was_ my home.", I kept repeating out loud.  Accidentally, a,"The woods is my home." slipped out.  I hit myself on the head.  What was the matter with me?  I waved my hand in front of my face.  _The heat must be getting to my head._ I kept thinking.

 

        I turned around and left.

 

        Walking around almost blindly, I found myself at the free hork-bajir colony.  I walked up through the secret path that the Ellimist had created for us, and finally reached the hork-bajir.  There were so many!  There was adults, kids, newborns, females and males. 

 

        The new free hork-bajir were taught to trust humans now.  They paid no mind to me.  Ket Halpak greeted me.  Jara Hamee died bravely in battle the same day as Rachel.  Ket never seemed to regain the loss. 

 

        Hi Ket.", I greeted her.  Hork-Bajir all look almost the same, but they have different markings too.  Ket was getting old.  Her horns were becoming duller, and a dull yellow color.  Toby had explained to me that it was normal, but Jara Hamee's death problobly aged her faster.  I was so surprised when I had heard Jara-Hamee scream when his wife Ket fell injured, back in the beginning.

 

        "Tobias.", she said in her rough hork-bajir language.  Hork-bajir expressions are hard to read, but Ket looked at me quizically.  She was wondering why I wasn't in hawk form. 

 

        Just then, Toby came running up to us.  Over the years, Toby had grown into a full adult hork-bajir, though she didn't look quite the same.  You could see the superior intelligence she possesed.  "Hello Mother.  Hello Tobias.", she said.  I turned around to look at Ket.  "Why are you not a bird?", she asked.  She wanted to know. 

 

        I choked on the one simple word.  "Gone.", I sputtered.  Ket didn't understand me.  She didn't understand the two hour limit thing.  Problobly didn't even understand what an hour was.  Toby grabbed my arm roughly, and led me to a cave.  Nobody else was there.

 

        "Are you saying that..."  She allowed her voice to trail.  I mearly nodded.  Toby looked faint, but asked simply why.  I swallowed hard.

 

        _Should I tell her about Rachel?,_ I asked myself.  _Jake may have your rear end._ , I reminded myself.  After debating with myself for a minute, I decided the answer was clear.  _You can tell Toby._

 

        I cleared my throat.  "Toby.  Rachel's back.  The Ellimist won his war with Crayak.  At least he won the part with the humans.  I don't know what kind of power that he posesses, but it must be a lot more than we all thought.  He told Rachel that Crayak could care less about a single human living or dying.  I don't know how he brought a dead soul back to life.  All we need to know is that he did."  I paused.  "Also, the war's over.  What's the use in keeping my morphing ability anyway?  Living out the rest of my life as a hawk."  I was halfway trying to convince myself.  I was never to morph again.  Never to fly...soar...

 

        Toby just stood there for a few minutes, paralized.  She looked like a gargoyle, not moving at all.  If there had been a breeze that day, she would have toppled right over.  She nodded slowly, pausing to consider her next words.  "I know.", she finally said.

 

        I was confused.  "You _knew?"_ She nodded, a gesture she had picked up from humans.  "Yes.  I knew."  Before I had time to ask any more, she said,

 

        "I had a strange dream last night.  Possibly more of a vision than a dream.  I was told by...someone, I don't remember what he or she looked like.  I do remember what they said though..."  Toby looked away.  "What did they say Toby?", I pressed her for more information.  She finished with,

 

        "Earth is coming to an end."

 

               


	3. The Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAHA I forgot I was posting this here's the rest.
> 
> Please remember that all the author's notes in the text are also from when I was twelve!! I cringe!! so it's okay if you do too!!

Author's note:  This is problobly the darkest story that I have written so far in my life, and I've written a lot.  If you can't stand sad stories, than this is **NOT** for you, especially the ending.  I did include a few things in here to lighten the mood though.  Happy reading! 

 

 

Chapter One *Toby*

 

        My name is Toby Hamee.

 

        I had just told my human friend Tobias that his planet is doomed.

 

        I cursed myself.  That dream I had last night was of a glowing blue old earth man.  He was not human.  Looks can be deceiving.  He warned me, "Toby Hamee, you are the seer of your people.  You're job as a seer is not completed yet.  There is a force so strong, that it will shatter earth into pieces. You must take it to another planet, where it will not upset the planet's chemical balance.  You must find a planet that has no domanent species.  It may have living orginizems, just none with domenance over the planet.  Take the humans to the new planet, and go and take your people to your original home planet."  I did not say he was lying.  I did not believe the whole thing was my imagination run wild.

 

        I just knew.

 

`       I had questions though.  "Can the andalites help us?"  The blue man smiled at me.  "They may help with the spacecraft.  But _you_ are in charge."  I proccessed what he just said.  "What is the chemical imbalance?" I asked him.  He told me of Rachel.  When he was through, I was bewildered.

 

        He left me, and I woke from a dream that had not at all been a dream, but the truth. 

 

        "Toby!  TOBY!"  I snapped out of my memories.  I stared at Tobias's quizzical yet frustrated expression.  "Sorry, sorry.", I replied. 

 

        I told Tobias of my vision, and of the message.  Tobias told me it was the Ellimist.  I could tell that when I was through explaining to him all that had been in the Ellimist's message, I could tell Tobias wished I had never spoke in the first place.

 

        I recalled what the Ellimist had told me.  "But _you_ are in charge.", he had said.  "Tobias, go get Rachel.  Get Cassie, Jake, and Marco as well."  Without another word, Tobias was racing out of our colony, to get them.  Tobias had believed in my vision.

 

        Would the others believe as well?

 

        "Toby!"  I spun around.  My friend Daelay Ferjal called me from up in the earth trees.  Beside her was her mate, Dajif Hercal.  I sighed. 

 

        Most hork-bajir my age had already paired.  I could not.  Well, I was welcome to.  Yet I could not pair with somebody who possessed not much intellegence.  I hated myself everytime that thought came to mind, for I could not think of my people as dumb bark-eaters.  I am proud of my species, honestly. 

 

        There is one hork-bajir, Berhaf Gredfar who seemed to like me.  He is the one hork-bajir in our valley who tries to learn technology.  He is also interested in math, not so much reading.  He is not a seer like me, but he is fairly more intellegent than the other hork-bajir. 

       

        I climbed the tree, and reached my friend. She held Dajif's hand in one of her hands, and used the other to keep hold of the tree.  "Hello Daelay.  Hi Dajif."

 

        Daelay is considered very pretty by hork-bajir standards.  Her blades on her head are shorter, but sharper than most female blades.  Her eyes are a more violet color, unlike a hork-bajir's usual red.  She's also thinner and leaner than most females.

 

        I didn't know why she chose Dajif, but now I do.  Daelay loves the way Dajif makes her laugh.  He knows how to make her happy.  I find that the most important characteristic.

 

        I considered telling them about the message.  No.  I would talk to the Animorphs first, then talk to my people. 

 

        I spent the majority of the time playing in the trees with Daelay and Dajif.  Just waiting for Tobias to come back.  I pretended to be occupied and interested in the game, swinging from branch to branch.  My human friends would not have fallen for it, but my people did not suspect.

 

        They had no idea what was coming.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 *Rachel*

 

        "Rachel!  RACHEL!  Open up!"  I heard Tobias's frantic voice calling me from Cassie's front door.  I threw away the rest of grilled cheese sandwich that I had made, and opened the front door. 

 

        Tobias grabbed my hand, and pulled me outside before I had time to say anything. Cassie, Marco, and Jake had already started running to wherever it was that we were going to.  Tobias followed them, and I followed him, still not knowing what was going on.  "Okay, what's the deal?" I asked them.  Tobias told me that Toby needed us.

 

        "For what?", I wanted to know.  Tobias wouldn't tell me.  I was angry, but no matter what I said, Tobias wouldn't tell me anything more. 

 

        When we reached the secret hork-bajir valley, Toby was high up in the trees with to other hork-bajir. She immediatly spotted us, and half jumped half climbed down the tree. 

 

        "Hello Animorphs.", she greeted us.  I didn't care at the time about being polite.  All I cared about was getting some answers.  "Okay Toby, spill it."  She sighed, and led us far away from the rest of the hork-bajir in the valley, and into another area.

 

        That was my first clue I was not going to enjoy this little get-together.

 

        Toby told us her story of her meeting with the Ellimist.

 

        Toby paused, seeming to debate what to say next.  She told us, "This Ellimist also told me there is a being with a chemical imbalence so strong, that it will destroy your planet."  Toby's eyes flickered to me, then retreated back to the grass.  "Oh my god." I said bewildered.

 

        "No. No.  It's all my fault!  Earth is doomed, and it's all my fault!", I said in disbeleif.  Tobias grabbed my hand and squeezed it so tightly my hand went numb.  He started to tell me it wasn't my fault, that I didn't screw anything up.  I instantly let go.

 

        "NO!  Everybody will die because of me!  I had died to save earth, now earth will die because of me!  This can't be happening!  It's impossible!  This simply is NOT happening."  My words were lies.  I looked at Toby's blades.

 

        "JUST KILL ME!", I shreaked at the top of my lungs.  "I can't live knowing everyone else died!"  I impaled my shin on one of the blades on one of Toby's legs.  Felt a shoking streak of pain run through my leg.  Saw the red blood oozing out of the gash, and trickle down to my foot, and run off.  It was madness!  Madness!  I was going insane!  I was losing my mind!

 

        I was losing my mind.

 

        My head started to spin as the world how I knew it went black, not even noticing that Tobias caught me inches before hitting the ground hard.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3 *Jake*

 

        Cassie screamed so loudly that I lost my hearing for a second.  Tobias held the fainted Rachel in his arms.  Toby stared at her blade that was wet with gore.  Wet with blood. 

 

        Rachel's blood.

 

        When she finally gathered herself together, Cassie put her hand over Rachel's mouth.  "She's still breathing.  I think she just fainted."  Toby still stared at her leg blade, not comprehending, not believing.

 

        My eyes shifted to the deep, long bloody gash on Rachel's right leg.  I shook my head, then tore off a piece of my shirt, and used it to bandage Rachel's wound.  Tobias held her, looking almost afraid to move. 

 

        _Rachel can't be suicidal.  She's been alive for...not even a day!_ It wasn't her fault!  The meddling damn Ellimist tricked us again.  Was he just lucky, or was he really smarter than us? Of course Rachel had impaled herself.  Nobody could live with the fact knowing that the rest of their species died.  I guess that I would have done the exact same thing.

 

        "She'll come around soon.", Tobias said interrupting my thoughts.  He had this way of saying it, that he was sure Rachel wouldn't die.  I prayed that he was correct.

 

        As if to prove him right, blue eyes fluttered open.

 

        Rachel asked us, "What am I doing?"  She stared up at Tobias's face, looking desperetly confused. Her expression suddenly changed, a light switch flickering from off to on.  She shreaked, then rolled out of Tobias's arms.  Rachel fell five feet onto the ground with a loud thud, and a soft "Oof!"

 

        "No no noooo.", she moaned silently.  Her eyes wandered to her gash on her shin that was bandaged with my shirt.  "Just end it all.", she pleaded silently.

 

        "Rachel, please let me explain!", Toby begged.  "There is a way...  Your humans may transfer to another planet, where you will not upset the stability of this new planet.  I think that this new planet will seem a lot like earth.  Just mildly different though. There will most likely be creatures on this planet, but humans will be the domenant species.  The andalites may help by providing spacecraft, but this task is most up to me... though you must first agree to cooperate."

 

        We all let this new information sink into our heads.  All but Tobias, who already knew about Toby's vision, or whatever you call it.  A smile tugged at the corner of Rachel's mouth.  "So you mean that all hope is _not_ lost?", she asked.  Toby nodded.

 

        "It's not your fault Rachel.  You didn't know!  The Ellimist has tricked us again.  You heard Toby.  The new planet will be almost just like earth, but with some...a few...differences.", Tobias exploded.  "Just like Noah's ark!", Marco tried to add helpfully.  I rolled my eyes at him, though he was right.  It would be  sort of like Noah's ark. 

 

        "But wait, how long to have to evacuate earth?", I asked Toby.  She paused. "I...I don't know.  I guess that it will be pretty soon though."  As if on cue, as if to show us, mother nature sent a small earthquake through the valley.

 

        Tobias, Cassie, Rachel, Marco and I fell to the ground.  Cassie and Rachel screamed.  Marco's face regestered great alarm.  Tobias, still out of touch with human expressions, remained expressionless.  I don't know exactly how I looked, but I _do_ know that I was screaming on the inside.  Toby still stood erect, with a tail supporting her.  Keeping her upright.

 

        "This is it!", Cassie screamed.  "After all these years of war, _this_ will be earth's fate!"

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 *Cassie*

 

        Trees snapped.  Hork-bajir fell, some impaled with their own blades on accident.  I saw an infant hork-bajir lying motionless, not breathing, in its mother's arms. 

 

        It was a nightmare.  Had to be dreaming.  Had to wake up.

 

        Only I didn't.

 

        Then, as soon as it had come, it stopped. The earthquake had only lasted a few seconds, and then it was gone.

 

        I heard groans of injured hork-bajir, some crushed under the weight of fallen trees.  Others were helping those injured.  So many dead from a sixty second earthquake.

 

        After all the years of bloody war, this would be earth's fate.  All the battles, all the ones dead from helping to fight.  The ones dead from Visser Three's murderous tail blade.  Dead from the many reasons of the war with the yeerks.  The ones dead at Jake's call...all the weight on his shoulders. 

 

        But as we always knew...better to die than be a controller.  Better die of earth than be slaves, tools of the yeerks.

 

        Rachel would live, and eventually die, with the knowledge that a simple promise from an old cheat ended humanity.  And that she was a major part in that role.

 

        Unless we could evacute our planet.  Fast.

 

        We all stood up.  Jake put on his leader mask, the face he wore going into battle.  He started to give rapid fire orders.  "Cassie, go to your house and contact the andalite home world.  Tell them to bring as much spacecraft as they can.  We need to fit animals, bugs, insects, seeds of plants, all sorts of techonology, and of course people and hork-bajir as well.  Toby, get your people ready to board the ships too.  You wont be able to bring them all, but bring about a hundred, preferably the younger ones.  Tobias, you help Toby.  Rachel and Marco, you're coming with me.  We are going to Washington DC to see the guy in the White House!  You heard me, lets move.  Lets go, lets go, lets go!"

 

        There, we all prepared to evacuate earth, on a _very_ short notice.  _How much time do we have?,_ the logical side of my mind asked me.  _A month? A year?  A week, a day, or just a few hours?,_ My blood pumped, and adrenaline flooded me.  My damn head reminded me, _You have no idea when the deadline is.  At any moment the earth could blow up into pieces or simply disappear.  Hurry up Cassie, tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock._ I cursed myself.  _Shut up, shut up shut UP!_ I hate arguing with myself.  You can't exactly win ever, because then the other side will lose.  I hated confusing myself, which is exactly what I was doing at the moment. 

 

        I collapsed onto the ground, and just sat there.  Sat there knowing the world was literally coming to an end.  Jake got down on his knees, and lifted my chin with one of his hands.  Eyes as dark as midnight stared directly into mine.  It was so sweet, and I so needed it.  That gave me the courage to get up.  The courage to go out with this utterly insane plan.  Marco's favorite word.  Insane. 

 

        I wispered to Jake, "Thanks."  "We're in this together Cassie.", he reminded me.  Still, the though pulsaded in the back of my head.  _How many humans are we going to be able to bring?  We can probobly bring about what, one hundred humans?  Thats like a billionth of the population!  Just leaving billions of people here to die.  At OUR call.  Forget yeerks, we're even worse than them._

I can hate myself later.  Right now, I had to save humanity.  I could hate myself for it all later, AFTER I helped save the human race.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5 *Rachel*

 

        I was about to abandon billions of humans.  Just leave them to die.  Nothing would help, if I killed myself right then and there, the planet would still be disordered.  It would all still end anyway, no matter what I did.  I still wanted to kill myself.  Just wanted somebody to throw a brick at my head.  For what I was doing, I had no reason to be allowed to live. 

 

        "For god sake, come ON Jake!  We have to let the public know what's happening to them.", I urged him.  Jake took Cassie's hand and helped her stand up.  We said our goodbyes, and Cassie went a different Jake, Marco, and me.  Tobias and Toby stayed to help the hork-bajir.

 

        We raced back to Jake's house, not talking much.  When we got there, Jake got into the driver's seat of his truck.  "I call shotgun!", Marco proclaimed.  He was trying to keep us sane.  We needed a bit of humor.  Not much, but some.

 

        "Um, Jake?  Driving is not going to get us to D.C. very fast.", I pointed out.  "Yeah, well, do you got any better ideas?", he snapped at me.  Jake's attitude surprised me, but I did not let it show.  I merely shook my head no.  "Well then, get in my truck.", he commanded me.

 

        I climbed in the seat in the back.  Maybe they all hated me for coming back, but just didn't tell me.  Maybe they all secretly wanted me dead for making everybody die.  Jake, Marco, Cassie.  Tobias?  Could they all hate me?  I know I hated myself. 

 

        Marco whined in the seat next to Jake's.  "Dude, I got like two limos, three sports cars, a private helicopter, and other stuff too.  Yet you only drive a Honda Pilot?  Don't get me wrong man, this _is_ a nice truck, but I know you can do better than this!", Marco teased.

 

        At this point, Jake was so irritated that he just yesed Marco to death.  "Mmh hmm.  Yep, I'll get a limo.  I can do better than a truck with dirt and mud all over it.  Yep.  Uh huh.  I totally agree with you."  I had a feeling he had no idea what he was saying at all.  Even less had an idea what Marco was saying.

 

        I finally interrupted them after about thirty of Marco's nonsense talking.  "Guys, shouldn't we think about what we say to Obama once we get there?"  Jake and Marco didn't say anything for about fifteen seconds.  "Uh, guys?" I asked again, wondering if they had heard me the first time.

 

        "Rachel's right.", Jake said, shutting up Marco's jibberish.  "I guess we should explain how Rachel got here first, then explain about earth's freakish doom", Marco suggested.  Jake and I agreed. 

 

        "Then we have to let the other nations know too.", I pointed out.  "Yeah.", Marco said nodding.

 

        We all spent the next hour and a half rounding off which humans we need to bring to the new planet.  We decided that all people must have their medical records checked.  If that is good, then they pass onto the next step. 

 

        Their doctor needs to check their family history's backround.  If there is no history of cancer, athsma, autism, and all of the major health problems from three generations back, then they pass to the next step.

 

         This one is simple.  They must be _younger_ than fifty.  I hate that rule, because a perfectly healthy fifty-one year old isn't allowed, becasue they are one year too old.  Though, we could not bring everyone, and we had no narrow the list down as narrow as it could get.

 

          We also decided that most people that we bring (more than half) should be less than sixteen.  And, no matter how cruel it was, we could not allow pregnant mothers-to-be on the ship.  That would only complicate the number of people we had to bring.  That's all we could think of before we reached D.C. 

 

        "Ok, everybody out, single file please.", Marco joked, even though there was only three of us.  I rolled my eyes, and ended up staring at the gigantic Lincoln memorial in the process.  Marco caught my eye.  "Yeah, if it was December, you could sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas.  Ho ho ho!"  I didn't point out that he wasn't two.  I did not tell him to shut the hell up.  I needed somebody to keep me sane.

 

        I always thought that Marco was the one _keeping_ me from _being_ sane.

 

        Everybody in D.C. immediatly noticed us.  By us, I mean Jake and Marco.  To them, I was just a tall blond girl in a t-shirt and a skort walking with the heros of earth.  Nobody noticed a girl that was dead less than twenty four hours ago was walking right on past them.  Jake gave me a look.  He had noticed too.

 

        We finally walked up the many steps leading to the door.

 

        "Well, here goes nothing.", Jake said.  Jake and Marco had met the president before, but I hadn't.  So, we walked in, and explained our story.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6 *Ax*

 

        I was relaxing at my new home, back at my planet.  It is a georgeous planet, with many differences from earth.  Tall blue and purple purple trees which my human friends say look like gigantic asparagus plants, arise from the atmosphere.  I have tasted this food called asparagus, and my human tounge was overwhelmed.  Cassie had told me that most humans did not enjoy asparagus, but the sense of taste may overwhelm an andalite. 

 

        Our grass is not green like the earth grass, but blue.  It satisfies the hunger in my mustles, when I dig my hoof into the grass.  Streams are most common too.

 

        Running, and running on my home planet.  My next mission was yet to be decided.  I had been told that there was only a minor disturbane in the Vart-jal section of the galexy.  Nothing major.  I rounded my scoop again, and heard a buzzing noise.  I pressed the red button on my holographic "telephone" and Cassie's image appeared.

 

        Cassie does not communicate with me often, but she does about every two months or so.  Her eyebrows wrinkled into an expression that I recignized as stress or nervousness.  Her mouth was formed into a thin, straight, horizontal line.  Cassie looked like she had something urgent to say.  Before I had a chance to even say hello, Cassie spoke frantically. 

 

        "Ax, I need you to bring as much spacecraft as you can manage!  Something about Rachel coming back...the earth...blown up into pieces!  Toby told us that there is another planet all picked out for us, but we need the andalites to bring as many ships as you guys can manage!  Please Ax!  The whole human race is at stake!"

 

        I blinked twice, letting her information soak in.  I had already processed much crazy news the other day.  Rachel being brought back to life again by the Ellimist.  Tobias, my shorm, a nothlit.  A human nothlit.  Now I was supposed to belive that the human race may go extinct. 

 

        Though, my human friends treat me well.  They do not make up lies.  If it was spacecraft they needed, then it was spacecraft they would get.  "Ax?"  <Um.  Cassie, I will bring ten of our largest ship.>, I told her. 

 

        How many humans will that fit?", she asked.  <The numbers vary between how much space each one will occupy.  If you want each to have a room, then the humber will be smaller.  If they each occupy a very small amount of space, then the numbers will be larger.  You, Marco, Tobias, Rachel, and Prince Jake will of course, fly on a seperate ship, and each have a room.  At least, you and Rachel may have to share a room, and Tobias, Marco, and Prince Jake in another room.>

 

        "Ok Ax.  Thank you so much.  Oh, by the way, how fast will you be able to get here?  I don't know how much longer we can stay here."  I thought.  Z-space sometimes shifts, making some flights longer, and others shorter.  The trip to earth would be pretty short.  Then again, the time it took to get the ships ready, and all the other things would take some time too.

 

        <Hmm, um, about two of your earth months.>, I told her.  Cassie looked nervous, but nodded the slightest bit.  "Ok.  Oh, and by the way Ax?"  <Yes?>

 

        "Don't call Jake 'Prince' Jake.  You know how much he hates that.", she said with a smile.  I rolled my eyes, a gesture of annoyance or exasperation that I picked up from by human friends.  Only I rolled four eyes.  They rolled two.  We said our goodbyes, and the hologram disapeared.

 

        There was only one problem: Bringing ten ships to earth would have to pass by the andalite council.  I could not easily take ten ships, and bring them to earth.  Being a war-prince would speed up the process of passing our laws.  I just hoped that it would be soon enough.

 

        I contacted the council using my holographic "telephone".

 

        <War-prince Aximilli.>, Alloran greeted me.  He had earned a seat in the council, and was VERY happy.  <Hello war-prince Alloran.>, I returned the greeting.  <If it pleases the council, may I come for an urget and important meeting?  There is something very serious happening at earth right now, and we need to act as soon as possible.>, I informed him.  <Of course!>, he exclaimed.  Being Visser Three's host for years, earth was very important to Alloran.

 

         It suddenly occured to me that I would not only have to explain earth blowing into pieces, but Rachel coming back to life.  See, we andalites have no religion.  Science forces us to believe things that would not be possible with a god, or the afterlife.  We believe that when you die, that simply is the end.  You have no soal that lives on.  For Rachel to have returned, it seemed that there must be a heaven.  Didn't it?

 

        Alloran told me to come today, even though it was already getting late.  The main council hall is not too far from my scoop.  If I ran there, it was about only fifteen minutes.  Alloran's holograph flickered, dimmed, then went black.  I took off running, across the blue grass.  After about only five minutes, I caught sight of something. 

 

        No, I did not catch sight of the main council hall, or trees, or a brook or a stream.  Forlay.  She was my closest neighboor.  Forlay used to have a major "crush" on my brother Elfangor.  Yet, Elfangor never liked her back.  He did not like how she tried to be with him all the time.  He said once when Father mentioned her to him, "Father, I do not wish to marry Forlay.  She is to clingy.  Besides, she is too young anyway."  Too young for Elfangor, yes.  Too little for me, no.  I on the other hand found Forlay very attractive.  Her eyes gleamed a deep blue, and she seemed much more graceful than the other females.  I just never told Elfangor how I felt. 

 

        _But I was little then._ I told myself.  _I am no longer Aximilli Kala.  I am War-prince Aximilli._ Seeing her gallop through the grass.  She was the perfect image of strength and gracefulness mixed into one.  I did not relize that I was staring at her until I heard her call my name.  <Aximilli!>  She did not call me with my war-prince title.  She never did.  I liked that.  Most Princes would not like that, but I did.  It reminded me of when we were kids.

 

        <Where are you going to?>, she asked me.  She galloped up, to me.  Her face only a few inches from mine.  I accidentally took a step backwards.  <Um, I am going to the main council hall.  I have some urget buisness to discuss with them.>, I said in a rush.  _Oh, do not be a fool.  Don't act like you tremble at the sight of her.  She definetly will not get a good impression from that._ My mind lectured me.  We chatted for a while, until I finally told her I had to leave.  She said goodbye to me, and brushed the side of my face with her palm.  Just for a breif, split second.

 

        I soon lost sight of her, as she left to go back to her scoop.  Gently rubbing one's face with their palm is an andalite's exuivelent of a human's kiss.  _She likes me.  She really DOES like me!_ I ran to the council hall.  Energy made run even faster then usual.

 

        Alloran was there to greet me.  <Hello Prince Aximilli!>  <Hi War-prince Alloran.>  He led me into the long, long hall.  There were so many doors!  One hundred at the least!  The walls were a creamy color, and the floor was a dull teal color.  We andalites are a claustraphoblic species.  The walls made me feel uncomfortable, but the teal floor reminded my mind of grass.

 

        An aristh opened a door for us, and in we went.  Into the room of the andalite council.  They stood at the the long wooden table, since andalites can not sit.  It is literally impossible.  Sinud Vertal Jamin stood at one of the ends of the table.  Alloran took his place at one of the long sides, and motioned for me to stand at the other longer end. 

 

        I shakily walked to the other end of the table, and stood in front of the council. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7 *Ax*

 

               <Members of the council, friends, there has been a terrible disturabce in planet earth.>  The council members looked at eachother.  So far so good.

 

        <As you all know, only four of the five human Animorphs survived the war with the yeerks.  The human that died was a feamle named Rachel.>  All of this was definetly not new to them.  They all knew about Rachel's death.  I continued,<Rachel died to save humanity.  To end the war with the yeerks.  Now, humanity may die for her.  You see, the Ellimist has brought Rachel back to life.  She is on earth _right now._ The meddling nitwit Ellimist brought her back.>

 

        The council members looked stunned.  They did not believe the Ellimist would ever do anything kind.  I spoke their thoughts for them.  <You may believe that the Ellimist's action was nice, but their as another end to the deal that my friends...the Animorphs...did not know about.  Rachel now carries an imbalence that earth can not withstand.  This imbalence will end up shattering earth into pieces, or disinigrate, or simply dissapear.>  The council members gasped.  I continued.

 

        <Even if Rachel was killed, that would not matter.  The earth has already been effected.  It will end no matter what happens.  It will _still_ die.>  I paused to allow them to process that information.  <But there is a way out.  There is a way to save the human race.  Toby, the hork-bajir seer of her people, met with the Ellimist in her sleep.  He told her that there is a planet all picked out for the humans.  The humans can escape to that planet.  Rachel's imbalance will not have an effect on that planet.>

 

        <Here is where we andalites come in.  The humans do not posess the spacecraft to carry them saftely to the new planet.  Toby knows that they would have to travel through Z-space to reach this new planet.  They would also have to bring hork-bajir as well as humans, to save the hork-bajir population.>  I fiddled with my fingers nervously. 

 

        <The humans need ten of our biggest ships to start a new life on this new planet.  Two of the ships would contain hork-bajir, so that they could go back to their original home planet.  I am at no rank where I can simply send ten ships off to earth.  That is why I'm here.  Please, the fate of the humans, and the fate of the hork-bajr, rests in our hands.>

 

        The council clapped, and some sent out thought speech cheers.  Council member Sinud, being at the highest rank in the council, spoke first.  <Excellent presentation Prince Aximilli.  As you know by now, we value earth very much, and would hate to see it, and its people destroyed.  But, as you know, there is a war involving our people in the Vart-jar section of the galexy.  We can not just send ten of our biggest ships off to earth.>

 

        This was what I had been fearing.  They would deny helping the humans, and they would all die.  But then, Sinud brought my hopes back up again.  <As far as I'm concerned though, we can afford to send ten ships off.  Two very valued species are on the line.  I can not just stand here and do nothing while two entire races die.>

 

        An aprooving nod from the council.  Council member Lern Ald Sentorn asked , <When is the deadline to bring these ships.  How long before the humans and hork-bajir go extinct?>  I thought.  <Um, I do not know.  Neither do the humans or Toby Hamee the seer.>  Lern nodded.  <We will just have to cross out fingers and hope that we will not be too late.>  I agreed, as with the rest of the council.

 

        Alloran spoke up.  <Prince Aximilli, you are our expert on humans.  I think we will leave this decision up to you...>  He looked hesitently at Sinud, who must have said yes in private thought speech, because Alloran continued after a few moments.  <Yes, we will leave this up to you Prince Aximilli.  Do you think that this is best?  Do you think it is best to send ten ships, large in size, fully exquipted with weapons, if a combat is necissary, to earth?  Keep in mind that these ships may have been used for the war against the Wernoghs in the Vart-jal end of the galexy.  Do you still believe that this is best?>  

 

        Yes.  Yes!  They were agreeing to my plan!  There were agreeing to send the ships!  There were even going to put me in charge!  My ship could have two spare rooms.  One for Cassie and Rachel, and one for Prince Jake, Tobias, and Marco.  They could bring more of their valuables than the other humans.  <Prince Aximilli?  I asked you if you belive that it is best to send the ships to earth.>  Oops.  <Um, yes Council member Alloran.  I belive that it is best.>

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8 *Toby*

 

        "My people the hork-bajir, me and Tobias need you all to listen to us closely."  We both called all of my people down from the trees, and out of the caves.  We needed all of them to come to us.  We needed them to listen.  I was about to send them into a future beyond belief.  I was about to leave so many to just die.  They would scream.  They would see the earth dying.  They would yell something similar to, "Toby Hamee!  Why have you left me here to die?"  They would die.  They would not live.  The few who were able to escape would be lucky. 

 

        The hork-bajir lef the trees, half jumping and half climbing down.  Some walked out of the varoius caves.  Others told others who had not heard me to come.  I saw Daelay holding Dajif's hand as they found a spot in the crowd.  I swallowed hard when I saw that all of th hork-bajir were finished gathering around me and Tobias.  Tobias and I stood on a very tall rock so that we could see everybody. 

 

        "Hork-bajir, there is a problem about earth."  Hork-bajir do not understand the term delima or disinigration.  I spotted Berhaf standing in the midst of many awaiting hork-bajir.  That gave me courage.  "Earth is going to...die.  I do not know exactly when earth is going to die, but it is.  We need to leave this planet, and go back to another planet."  _Our home world._ , I said only in my head.

 

        This is the part that I was not going to like to say.  "There is another problem though.  Only some of us will be able to go to this new planet.  Some of you will have to stay here, and die along with earth."  Some screamed.  Others cried.  Some clutched at their children, fearing for them.  I could see Dealay's expression of horror and scardness.  Berhaf looked at me as if I meant the world to him.  Like he knew what I had to do, and was not going to hate me for it.  Tobias whispered to me that I was doing good so far.  _Yeah right.  Everybody's afraid of me!  Everybody hates me._

Soon, my mother, Ket Halpak shouted above the crowd.  "As we said to the yeerks, 'Free or Dead!'  Free or dead!  Free or dead!"  My mother had come in to help me.  I could not help but smile.  Other hork-bajir who had been around in the time of the war joined in her call.  "Free or dead!  Free or dead!  Free or dead!"  Pretty soon, they had the rest chanting along with them.  "Free or dead!  Free or dead!"

 

        _'Free or dead.'  Okay, lets go with that.  This isn't exactly about infilteration or infestation, but we can go with 'Free or dead.'  Whatever works._ , I thought to myself.  Tobias spoke up.  "Toby is going to take you into a new planet, on a ship.  Some of you are going to fly on a long trip to the planet."

 

        I didn't exactly know if the andalites were going to bring the ships or not.  I just had to hope that they were.  There was no other option.  The only choice was to keep my fingers crossed, and hope.  Hope.  That was the only choice.

 

        Tobias called out the orders for me.  "Toby and I need all of the children to go to the left side of me, and the adults on the right side.  Baybes can stick with their parents though."  Berhaf was the only moving figure in the mass, who moved from the middle, to the right.  I said in a kind of loud whisper to Tobias, "They don't know your left and your right Tobias!"  Tobias blushed.  "Okay, um, I need all of the adults to go on this side."  He waved his arms towards his right and pointed.  "We also need all of the children to go on _this_ side.", he yelled motioning to his left.  The mass of hork-bajir shifted, and was still again after about three minutes.

 

        The side with the children was only about a quarter of the size on the adults' side.  I hopped down from the giant rock, and counted all of the children.  "One, two three, four, five...nineteen....thirty two...fifty five."  Fifty five children.  I swallowed.  How many will the ships hold?  Definetly more than fifty five.  I pointed to the childrens' group and yelled, "These will definetly come!  We will sort you out once the ship comes."  _If the ships even do come._ , I thought.

 

        "Until then, you may all go back to your buisness.  We will continue this...soon!", I promised them.  They slowly left.  All except Berhaf, who waited for me.  I checked the direction of the sun.  It was directly above us.  Noon.  Time for Berhaf's teaching session.  I always taught him around noon.  He was hungry for more knowledge, even though he could not process it all.  Tobias asked me if he would like me to stay.  I told him that he may leave, and he headed back to Jake's house to wait for him to get back from the White House.

 

        "Lets go Berhaf.", I said.  We walked to a cliff above the nearby city.  Too high for the humans down there to see us.  This was where we always had our lessons.  "Can we start with math?", Berhaf asked me.  I replied, "Sure."  We basic addition and subtraction problems, which he passed with flying colors.  Of course, these were rather easy problems.  Five plus nine equeals fourteen.  Eight minus two equeals six.  Stuff like that, still he was proud of himself, so I was happy for him.  The other hork-bajir likely could not do one plus one, even.  We started on multiplication tables.  Two times two, four times two.  "Okay, what is six times two?", I asked him.  He stammered.  "Ugh..."  He suddenly thrust his head back.

 

        "I am sorry Toby, I can not do it!  I am not capable of containing the data that you can!  I will try, but I can not be like you.  I would do anything to be like you Toby Hamee, I really would!  I want to do the confusing math that you can, or put together the bark sculptures that you have made.  Though, I just can't do it!  I am sorry Toby Hamee, I have let you down.  I am sorry."  _Let me down?  What do you mean you let me down?  I love you Berhaf Gradfar!  I love you!,_ I thought.  _What?_

 

        I had a shocking moment of truth.  I was in love with Berhaf.  He loved me, and I loved him back.  He tried to do everything for me.  He may have cared about learning, but not as much as he cared about me.  I realized, in that moment of truth, why he kept trying to learn.  He wanted to be like me.  Berhaf wanted to impress me.  He did not belive that I would like him if he was exactly like the other hork-bajir.

 

        I told him intensly, passionate words spilling out of my mouth.  "Berhaf, I am sorry that I did not realize anything until now.  How could I have been so blind to how I felt, I may never know, but I know now."  I took a deep breath.  "I love you Berhaf."  He did not need to say that he loved me back.  He did it a different way.  He reached his head out and pressed the front horn on his head against mine.  I felt a tinging sensation of pleasure and happyness.  We just sat there on the rotting log like that for a moment, then he pulled back away. 

 

        "Toby, I need to go.  You have taught me more in this class than any other."  He smiled, and took to the nearest tree, swinging away.  For those few seconds, I forgot about how earth was going to die.  I just let go of myself.  Let all the problems go away for just about ten seconds.         

 

        The problems brought me back to earth, back to reality.  I stood up, and started to walk back to my mother.  There was something that I needed to tell her.  I still don't know why I didn't use the trees to get there faster.  Perhaps my head was still dizzy.

 

        I found her in a cave.  She just stood in a corner of the cave, mumbling something to herself.  Many of the hork-bajir had lost their husband or wife in the war, but slowly, most reagained the smile on their face.  It took a while, but most did recover from their sadness and greif.  My mother had never really recovered from losing my father.

 

        "Hello Mom." I said as cheerfully as I could.  No response.  I continued anyway.  "I came to say thank you for remembering the 'free or dead' cheer.  You helped me a lot."  Still no response.  "Mother?"  She finally answered me, "We are leaving earth."  I nodded.  "Yes Mother, we are." 

 

        "I am scared Toby.  Jara Hamee died in battle.  I do not want you to die too.  I am scared.  I am very scared.", she said.  My heart cried.  She cared about me.  She did not care that she may be left on earth here to die, while I escape with tender lives of the children.  She still worried, even though I would be MUCH better off than she would be.  Just leaving her here to die.  The thought made _me_ want to die.

 

        "I will do what I have to do Mother.  I will do what I have to.", I said.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9 *Jake*

 

        "Jake!  Rachel, Marco!"  I spun around.  I heard Cassie call us from the other end of the news station.  Tobias was with her.  We were at the Fox news station, about to tell the world about what was happening, and what hope that we had.  "Ax contacted me.  They're bringing the ships!", she said happily.  Rachel, Marco, and I all cheered.  "We're safe!", I yelled!  I kissed Cassie on the cheek, not even realizing what I had just done.  We both pulled back in surprise, and fell silent.  Nobody else had seen.

 

        President Obama was with us, along with other leaders of other nations.  "Are you guys ready?", Obama asked us.  We had explained everything to the leaders ahead of time.  We all nodded, and the cameras focused in on us.  "Okay.", the director said.  "We go live in five, four three, two!"  Bright lights shined, and the cameras turned on. 

 

        "Hello.  I am Jake Berenson the Animorph.  I'm sure that you already know who I am though.  As you likely know, only five of the six Animorphs survived the war with the yeerks.  The ones who survived are me, Marco Miller, Cassie Garnot, Tobias Foster, and Prince Aximilli.  Rachel Berenson, my couson, as you all know, died in battle with the yeerks.  She died to save the rest of humanity."

 

        Cassie picked up the story for me, "Her selfless action caused her to die, yes, but she was rewarded with the knowledge that she saved all of the humans from being taken over by the yeerks.  She was honored for this.  There was a burial held for her in the cemetary, which many people attended."

 

        Next, Tobias spoke.  "It was hard for all of us to belive that she was really gone.  But yesterday, a powerful creature called the Ellimist, which many of you are familiar of the name, appeared to me, Jake, Marco, and Cassie yesterday.  He made all of us have these flashbacks of us with Rachel.  Memories were shown to us, without us pulling them out.  The Ellimist did that for us."

 

        Marco decided to continue.  "We had no idea why he showed us these flashbacks at first.  Then, we knew.  The answer lay right in front of us on the grass.  He had brought Rachel back to life."

 

        Rachel stepped into view from behind me.  She looked nervous with all of the cameras pointed towards her.  I always thought that being on the television would seem natural to her.  "The Ellimist gave me a choice.", she said nervously.  "He told me that I could either stay up in heaven, or come back to earth.  It would be silly for me to say 'no' to the offering.  So, I said 'yes.'  The Ellimist brought me back to earth, but first, he showed me all that happened in the seven years that I was...dead."

 

        She continued on about the Ellimist and about how it was a shock to come back to earth.  _She's stalling._ , I thought, after she basially repeated the same thing for the fourth time.  _Why is she stalling?_ , I wondered.  It hit me suddenly.  She was scared to tell everybdy that they were doomed because of her.  That they would all die because of one decision that she thought would bring nothing but peace and happyness.  I nudged her in the ribs, to try to get her to continue.  "We're live Rachel.", I whispered to her.

 

        She didn't continue, so I did for her, cutting her off in mid-sentence.  "Even though it may seem that the Ellimist's action was kind, there was more to the deal than we all thought.  Rachel now carries an imbalence that will _destroy earth._   You heard me correctly.  No matter what we all do, earth will still die.  But, there is hope for humanity."

 

        Marco continued.  "Cassie Garnot here.", he said waving an arm towards her.  "She contacted the andalite home world.  They are coming with ten ships to evacuate earth with.  Two of the ships will contain some of the hork-bajir race.  The remaining eight will carry some of us humans."

 

        "Very sadly, we an not take all of the humans with us.  Some of you will have to stay here while earth..."  Her voice cracked, and she turned away from the cameras.  Tobias came to her defense.  He finished speaking for her.  He finished sighing earth's death decree.

 

        Meanwhile, I was trying to comfort her.  "Cass, we're doing everything that we can do.", I told her, leading her away from the cameras.  "We have to be strong.  Just be grateful that we're saving a portion of the human race.  That portion will expand, and live a new life, on a new planet."  She grabbed me.  Didn't grab me to shake me.  Not to yell at me.  She just held me.  I put my arms around her waist, and pulled her in close.  We hugged, just holding eachother.  Letting ourselves feed off of each other's strength. 

 

        God, I wish that I had told her how I felt that moment.  I wish we hadn't ever had those silly fights about the morphing cube, or fighting over me blackmailing Erek the chee.  I loved her.  If there wasn't bigger problems, I might have...  But there were problems bigger.  That was okay, I could keep my cool. 

 

        When we were both ready, we walked back to the cameras.  Marco was saying, "As Rachel said, there are certian rules to figuring out who can come to the new planet."  Marco listed the rules.   I finished up for him, to let them know I was back.  "The ships will land in Pennsylvania, in Phillidelphia.  We are clearing out an area for them to land in.  When they land, we will let you, the public, know.  You can come to Philly, and try to qualify for coming on the ships.  Thank you."

 

        "And...we're clear!", the director yelled.  "Guys, lets go back home.  It's like nine o'clock, and it will be twelve by the time we get home.  We said our farewells, and I started walking with Marco, to the jet that flew us to the station.  After a while, we all boarded on, and flew back to Pennsylvania.

 

        After an hour and a half of flying, I could hear Marco snore.  I felt happy for him.  The guy had been having terrible trouble sleeping.  Going to bed at Eleven thirty, and waking up at five.  Cassie was in the seat two spots in front of me.  I unbuckled my seat belt, and peeked in front to see how she was doing.  Cassie was alseep too.  her expression was peaceful, but I could see the inner tension.  The way her eyebrows twisted and knooted showed me that she was having a nightmare.  I stroked her short black hair.  Her eyebrows actually unknotted, and she smiled in her sleep.  Should I...did I dare?  I walked over, and kissed her forehead.  "Night Cassie."

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10 *Rachel*

 

        Two months had come and gone.  There were varoius signs that earth was falling apart.  There were occasional tiny tremors, and small earthquakes.  The heat was up to one hundred and twelve degrees sometimes, which is rediculious for Pennsylvania.  It rained once from Monday through Friday.  There was only one day that the heat was not terrifying.  Showing no warning signs, there was six inches of snow that had fallen in less than an hour.  It all melted the very next day.  It was hard for me to live with the fact of nowledge that it was all my fault...and the Ellimist's.  My friends were the only things keeping me sane.

 

        I went shopping, and bought myself a wardrobe of stuff that actually fit me.  I was living in a nice house.  I had a garden in the front.  Two story, and a tiny basement.  Two bedrooms.  I was actually sharing the house with Tobias.  Jake insisted that we all lived close to eachother, and there was only one house for sale in the neighboorhoods which they all lived in, which was four houses down from Cassie.  So, Tobias and I both moved in.  We were on good terms, and had been going out for a while.

 

        Only one month after I had come back, Tobias proposed to me on a beach in Ocean City Meryland.  That was the second happiest day of my life.  I took the ring, which had a small diamond on a ring of white gold.  I said to him though,"Tobias, I won't marry you yet.  Once we get to the new planet, and this weird change in our life...when the feeling wears off, I will marry you."  He understood.  I was still engaged though.  I still wear the ring to this day.

 

        The next day, I told Cassie the good news.  She was very happy for me.  We both cried tears of joy.  I did not dare to mention Jake.  Cassie and Jake had been having trouble talking.  But, I could see by the way that they talked to each other, that they wanted to say more.

 

        Yeah, I became very sentimental.  Never thought that would become of Xena.  Speaking of Xena, Marco called up the actress that played her on television.  (Marco is friends with a lot of celebrities.)  He got her to come to meet me.  Marco covered my eyes with a big cloth.  "Can you at least tell me where we're going?", I asked him.  He wouldn't speak.  If he hadn't been guiding me to her, then I would have thought that he wasn't even there.  "Okay, you can take it off now.", he told me.  "Finally!", I scolded him.  Leather boots, fake sword...Xena!  "Oh my god!", I yelled.  The actress was Stephanie Elder, and she was really nice.  She even got me a duplicate of her costume!

 

  Jake was still working on the book of his trip, but after he typed all of that, we wrote a book together called _From one Planet to the Next._   We wrote from both our perspectives.  It was more of a journal than a book though.  Each day which we had time, I would meet him at his house, and we would record what had been happening in the time frame since we last wrote.  We wrote about the drastic changes in weather, and what our plans were.  I even wrote about how I felt coming back to life.

 

        The Ellimist came to me in a dream once.  "You lied!  You cheated me again!"  I could yell all I wanted.  It wouldn't help.  He was the hawk.  I was the mouse.  He was the preditor, and I was the prey.  I asked why he had come back.  The Ellimist told me some valuable information.  I nodded my head.  "Yes, I understand.", I told him.  He did not promise me that we would make it saftely across, but he told me everything that I would need to know to make it saftely.

 

        The next day, a dark shadow passed above my head.  I was with the rest of the Animorphs, except Ax, who was coming on the ships.  We all looked up.  Dark grey steel, or some type of metal was directly on top of us, high up in the sky, not touching any buildings.  It flew above us, going really fast.  And, and, they were...HUGE!  Infact, huge is not a big enough word to describe it.  No word I can think of right now is big enough.  So, lemme just say, all I saw was a shadow.  I could see ZERO sunlight.  They were each bigger than the biggest cloud that you've ever seen.  The ships!

 

        We all whooped and cheered.  We ran around in circles.  Tobias lifted me up, and spun me around.  I thrust my fist high into the air, and yelled as loud as I could, at the top of my lungs.  "Hope is here!  We're going to make it!", I screamed, smiling madly. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11 *Toby*  

 

        I watched as two of the andalite ships landed in our valley.  Berhaf stood at my side, and I held his hand.  We had paired about a week ago.  Dealay and Dajif were also happy as well.  They had some exciting news.  Dealay was going to be a mother!  I promised her a spot on the ship, and I would give her and Dajif a bigger room, in case her baby was going to be born in the travel.  They would need a spot to keep the child.  I doubted it was necissary though.  Hork-bajir are pregnant for a long time before giving birth.  Yet, I didn't know how long it was going to take to get back to our home planet.

 

        The two ships landed.  The trees that had banches and leaves blowing wildly from the wind it was giving, rustled, then was still.  The grass that had come up settled to the ground again.  Two andalites walked out of each of the ships.  I called all of my hork-bajir back.  Once they were all back, I yelled, "All of the children which I said before would come, please come close to me!"  Once they were gathered around me, I counted them again.  Fifty five.  I looked at the ships again.  They were gigantic.  Much bigger than I expected they would be.  I looked at the first ship.  That one ship could hold one hundred.  "Now, I want all of the mother's with their baybes to stand over there.  All pregnent females and the fathers over there.  The rest, over there.", I commanded, pointed to three different areas. 

 

        One of the andalites spoke for the first time.  <Are you Toby Hamee the seer?>, he asked me.  "Yes, I am."  <We will escort your people wherever you want them to go.>, the other one said.  I nodded.  Okay, I want all of the children and the mothers and fathers with baybes to go into that ship over there.", I said, motioning to the first ship.  "The rest, over in that ship.", I commanded.  Dealay and Dajif walked into the second ship, along with so many others.  We were going to be able to fit everybody!  Nobody was going to be left here to die!  I noticed that Berhaf was also following my command, and started to walk into the second ship.  I pulled him back.  "Not yet.", I told him.

 

        We both got all of the hork-bajir settled in their rooms.  We paired up the families as best as we could.  Finally, after we got all of them arranged, Berhaf and I settled in our room.  We had a plentiful supply of bark, so we would not be going hungry any time before we reached the home planet.  I contacted the Animorphs, and told them that we were taking off.  They all wished me and Berhaf good luck, and we were off, on the long journey back to the hork-bajir home planet.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12 *Marco*

 

        "Bye Toby!", we all called into the phone.  Yeah, Toby has a phone, but she has a little problem pressing the buttons.  I put my cell phone that I used to call her back into my pocket.  I clutched my suitcase in my right hand.  I patted my pocket with my left. 

 

        Each person that qualified to come on the travel got to bring a suitcase of their most valuable belongings, along with clothes.  Of course, we had to supply the suitcases, so that each size and amout that they could hold was the same.  Fair enough.  One of Tobias's jobs was to check that each suitcase consisted of only items, and no living things, people or animals.  We decided after a long argument with Cassie that it was best to leave all earth's animals here.  She cried once again once the decision was final, and we all tried our best to comfort her.  We had no idea how the animals would adapt to the planet, and it was just too risky.  Nothing besides humans and non-living objects were allowed to enter any of our eight ships. 

 

        Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, and I were going to fly on another ship.  Ax's ship.  We still had to bring the special suitcases, because it would only be fair.  I was so surprised that everybody actually went along with our decision.  Yet, I could not block out the occasional scream or wail when somebody found out that they could not come.  "I'm sorry Mam.  You're daughter has asthema, and we can not allow that on the ship.", I had to say to a mother, clutching her five year old.  She qualified to make the travel, but insisted in dying with her daughter, along with her husband who's mother had cancer.

 

        The nations' leaders all stayed in one area of the ship, but they each had their own room.  Well, we had to keep two of the leaders on seperate ships, because of a war that was going on at the time. 

 

        The huge crowd in Philly seemed to go on forever, and we one by one, loaded some into the varoius ships, and the andalites escorted them to a room.  Jake yelled into the huge microphone hooked up to the two huge speakes, that let him be heard to the other side of Philly.  He had to shout as loud as he could still, and the noise was deafeaning to the ears closer to him.  The rest of the Animorphs had to wear earplugs, and the noise was still deafeaning.  Ax's arisths that he was in charge of took our suitcases, and put them in our rooms.  I was to share a room with Jake and Tobias.  Cassie and Rachel were to share one as well.

 

        Speaking of Rachel, she was too scared to face the public.  In the very beginning when people first started to show up, she ran into Ax's ship, into the room she was going to share with Cassie, and locked the door.  We simply just could not coax her outside again.  I guess that it's hard to look into the eyes of an innocent person that you were about to indirectly kill.  She wasn't a coward, Exna is _never_ a coward.  She was just nervous.  After a little while, I heard the sound of vomiting coming from the room.

 

        At one point, Jake yelled into the microphone, "I am one hundred percent sure that you are all terribly scared of dying, which some of you will have to do."  His voice cracked, but her continued to write earth's gravestone.  I could just practically see the R.I.P. on a big, cold, grey, grave stone.  "But, Rachel Berenson, my couson, gave me some information that she found from a dream with the Ellimist recently.  He told her that he will first pass a gas that once you breath in, will..."  He couldn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to.  Everyone understood.  "It will be quick and painless.", he managed to say.  They wouldn't have to die by the earth cracking, and breaking, exploding, and possibly disinagrating.   

 

        Finally, after what seemed like years, we loaded the last person in.  "Maximum capacity.", one andalite told me.  I nodded.  I took Jake's mike, when he wasn't looking my direction.  "We have reached the maximum capacity.  We can't hold anymore people."  I heard moans and groans.  Tears welled up inside my eyes, and the eyes of the public.  I walked into the ship, crying, along with Jake, Tobias, and Cassie.  Ax was in the head of the ship, and we couldn't see him.  Rachel was standing in the entrence waiting for us, just barely shielded from the public's view.  Her cheeks were wet.

 

        Cassie took her right hand, and Tobias took her left, and they all cried.  Jake took Cassie's hand, and I stood next to Jake.  Jake looked at me half smiling, yet still frowing.  Aged.  Twenty six.  But for a moment, we could all be kids again.  We could all hold one another's hand to gain strength.  I took Jake's hand.  We heard the countdown of the captin.  <Five...four...three...>  Saw family's praying together.  Saw through the huge window in front of us all.  <One.>  He said it.  The word that meant the biggest change in my life that ever happened.  Saw the coninents melt into one big ball.  We watched, stared, and cried until earth was nothing but a small speck of white, blue, and green.

 

        Suddenly, BOOM!  We saw cracks appear.  Saw blinding light, and I had to shield my face.  Once the light stopped, pieces of earth glided across empty space.  Some hurtled toward us.  I insinctively ducked.  Somewhere in there were dead bodies.

 

        God, how much pain, sadnness, and regret that I...we...all felt right then.  We were escaping with our lives while we left innocent people and animals to die along with earth.  It may have just been my imagination, but I thought I saw a toddler hurtle by, eyes closed.  Innocent people.  We were supposed to save them from the yeerks. 

 

        Forget yeerks.  We were worse. 

 

        No more energy left inside me.  The war against my logical side of my mind left nothing but exaustion inside my soul. Couldn't think.  _I am a murder._ , I told myself.  _I am one of the worst people alive.  Worse than Hilter.  More terrible than the yeerks, Visser Three included.  We Animorphs are the worst people that ever lived._ I was tired, exausted, and beaten.  All I felt was a hollow empty feeling.  Beaten.  I was done.  _Let go._ , I told myself.  I needed to rest.  I was done thinking.  I closed my eyes. 

 

        Jake pinched me, waking me up, letting me surface, but I could see that he was done too.  His eyes were naturally dark, but these eyes felt like they were going to swallow me whole.  Cassie was still sobbing, and that made me realize that I was still crying too.  Rachel, clutching her hands very close to her throat.  Tobias pried them away, but the light was gone in his eyes too.  Ax was somewhere in the ship.  What was he feeling?  Didn't care.  So tired.  I only had enough energy to do one last, final thing.  I raised my hand, and waved.  Didn't have the energy to say goodbye to everything that meant everything to me.  I waved my final goodbye.


	4. The Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crying over the fact that in my author's notes I wrote that this totaled over 130,000 words but it's 30,000 and I think I was accidentally counting characters instead lmaoooo

Author's Note: This is the final book to the series.  I know that this one's pretty short, but when you add all four books together, they add up to over 130,000 words.  Happy reading!

       

       

 

        Chapter One *Jake*

       

        "What have I done?", I asked myself outloud in a whisprer.  "What have I done?"  I knew what I did.  I elliminated billions of people, is what I did!  _You're a murderer._ , I told myself.  I stared at the cealing above my bed.  My bed, as well as Tobias's and Marco's, folded out from the wall.  Mine was above their's, Marco was right below mine, and Tobias was at the bottom.  They were asleep, or at least pretending to be.

 

        Who cares?  The word still rang in my head.

 

        _Murderer, murderer, murderer._

 

        I sat straight up.  _I just can't sleep._ , I thought.  No way I was going to get to bed.  No use in trying.  I used the small ladder that was attached to my bed to climb down.  My bed was a good four yards above the floor.  I peeked at Tobias and Marco.  They really were asleep, but I could see that it wasn't peaceful by the way that their eyebrows wrinkled, and their hands were clenched into fists.  I tiptoed past them as quietly as I could, careful not to wake them up.

 

        Enjoy your rest, guys.  It aint going to last for long.

 

        The andalites had seperated us Animorphs (Except for Ax) from them.  They didn't mean disrespect or anything.  We had our own private section of the ship.  I walked quietly down the hall, and into the semi-cozy looking kitchen.  If I fell alseep, I would have nightmares.  I started the coffee pot.  _If I don't fall asleep, I can't have nightmares._   But my life at the time WAS a nightmare.  I got a mug down from the cabinet above the stove. 

 

        "Jake?", I heard a voice whisper.  I whirled around.  Cassie.  She was wearing a soft blue robe with slippers, and her PJs underneath.  I glanced back at the coffeepot.  Was it really _that_ loud?  "Sorry Cassie, I didn't mean to wake you up.  Please go back to sleep.", I pleaded.  "No no.", she said.  "I was already awake.  You didn't wake me up.  I couldn't sleep."  She pointed at a clock.  "Uh, you're having coffee at one in the morning?", she asked raising an eyebrow, almost laughing.  I stared at the mug in my hand.  "Um, yeah."  I didn't tell her exactly why I was drinking it.

 

        "Okay then.", she said.  I saw her walk over to the window.  She drew back one of the curtians.  Black, but not night time black.  We were cruising far across the galexy.  "We enter Z-space tomorrow.", I reminded her.  She nodded.  "Yeah."  She still stared outside. 

 

        "Listen, Jake.", she started.  I turned my attention toward her.  "I know that this totally did not work out like we all wanted it to, but at least we're saving a portion of humanity.  That portion will grow."  I was surprised.  I thought that Cassie would have been the most scared, shooken, and nervous out of all of us.  I tried not to let it show.  I walked to the window.  I noticed the other ships hanging close to us.  Filled with people.  Filled with hope.

 

        Cassie put her right arm around my neck, and leaned against me.  I tried to feel at ease, tried to feel comfortable.  Tried to remember when Cassie was the most near and dear person to me.  I realized then that she still was.  "We _will_ survive Jake.  We will come through, no matter how hard it seems to believe, we will come through."  I kissed her.  "We are totally in this together.", I agreed.  She kissed me back. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 *Rachel*

 

        _"What have you done Rachel?"  Tobias looked at my with rage and hatred.  What have I done?, I repeated inside my head.  Jake had his hands clenching and unclenching into fists.  "Look at the mess you've made!"  What mess?, I wondered.  "Rachel, I always thought that there was a kernal of decency inside you, until now."  Cassie.  Huh?, I wondered.  Marco was yelling and cursing me.  Ax's tailblade twitched like he wanted to move it towards my throat.  I felt the blood rush to my face.  What did I do?  Why was everybody so mad?_

_I looked down at my feet, and unfocused eyes stared back at me.  "AHHH!", I yelled, and jumped backwards.  The face of a child lay at my feet.  Dead.  What the-?  They were everywhere!  Dead bodies carpeted the ground around me.  Deep red blood lay in pools at my feet.  So this is my mess.  This is MY fault._

_MY fault!  The bodies were stown as far as I could see in all directions.  The sky shone a murky, gross, swampy green color.  I saw black circles above me, buzzards began to feast on the gore of the dead people.  No.  NO!  This isn't happening, it can't be!  But it was.  The dark red blood oozed from the hearts of the bodies, and puddled around my feet.  It was trying to eat me!  The blood was now up to my knees.  The air stank from its stale stench._

_The blood built on top of eachother, forming a door behind me.  I began to run away, but Jake took one of my arms, and Cassie took the other.  They were dragging me back towards the door.  Ax put his tailblade a millionth of a centimeter away from my face. <If you attempt to move, I twitch.>  I swallowed nervously.  The faces I looked to, admired.  Loved.  Now trying to kill me.  "NO!", I yelled at the top of my lungs.  "Tobias, help!", I cried.  He stood stock still, hands folded across his chest.  I was now inches away from the front of the bloody door.  Tobias opened the door.  I looked backwards, and saw flames on the other side of the door!  I shreaked at the top of my lungs.  Ax reluctantly moved his taliblade back behind him.  Marco grabbed me, and shoved me in through the door.  I kicked at him with my feet, but it was no use.  Tobias shut the door._

_The flames lept at me.  So hot...can't breathe...not enough oxygen!  Water.  Water now!  I reached for the doorknob, but I could not see it behind the red, orange and yellow. The flames crawled on top of me, and burned my hair off.  My skin was black with burns, and I bled.  Flames pressing up against me from all directions.  The fire was eating me.  I tried to scream, but was stopped by a huge fit of breathless coughs.  I wished I had saved my strength.  My mind went blank.  Where was I?  I felt dizzy with confusion.  The world...slowing...slowing...to a complete stop.  Blackness.  Blessed blackness._

_\--------------------------------------------------------l--------------------------------------------------------_

"Bahhh!", I cried.  What?  I looked at my skin.  Pajamas?  Where were the burns and blood?  I felt atop my head.  Hair!  I thought the fire burnt it off!  I took a long look at my surroundings.  On the other side of the room, a bed, an empty bed.  A nightstand with a clock that blinked 7:44 in red neon letters.  This wasn't the firery room behind the bloody door.  This was my bedroom on the spaceship!

 

        I right then said some words that would have raised every hair on your head.

 

        My sheets and blankets were sweatsoaked, and I shivered from the memories of the terrible nightmare.  Betrayed by my own friends!  My couson, our fearless leader, the responsible one who had to make the terrible decisions deciding our fates: Jake.  My personal pain-in-the-ass, but our only humor in the whole responsibility of being an Animorph, the one who kept us all sane: Marco.  Our expert in computers, the only true alien in the group, now owning the title of "Prince" before his name: Ax.  The animal lover, the girl who can't match an outfit to save her life, known to stuff pills down the throats of badgers, my BEST FRIEND: Cassie.  The Animorphs' eyes in the sky, who used to be a red-tailed hawk, the one who loves me: Tobias.

 

        Could they all have wanted me dead?

 

        I cursed myself for having such thoughts.  I climbed out of my bed, and opened my small closet.  Overalls, muddy jeans, and other crap on Cassie's side.  Fashionably mached outfits on nice hangers on my side of the closet.  I grabbed some denim shorts and a green t-shirt, and got dressed.  My gaze drifted to the diamond ring on my right hand, my engagment ring.  _Does Tobias regret giving me that ring?_ , I wondered.  I shook my head to try and rid of the terrible thought.

 

        Thinking sad thoughts like that made me angry too.  I hate feeling like a tiny, fleeble little helpless being.  The two emotions are very close together in me: Sadness and rage.

 

        I swallowed as I reached for the doorknob on the bedroom door, and walked into the hall.  Peeking through the tiny peephole in the guys' bedroom door, I saw three empty beds folded out from the wall.  _They're problobly having breakfast right now._ , I figured.  Sure enough, they were in the small kitchen the andalites had put together for us.  "Morning peoples.", I said casually, trying to hide my fear of them hating me.  Cassie said "Good morning." back, and Tobias came up to me and gave me a kiss.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  They didn't hate me. 

 

        Unless it was all an act...

 

        I glanced at the bowl of cereal sitting on the counter in the kitchen.  "Great Grains", the box read.  I laughed.  "At least the andalites aren't making us eat their bluish green grass.", Marco said, voicing my thoughts.  "Yeah, I'd much rather eat nuts and granola clusphherts.", Jake said.  His mouth was full, and a few little flakes sputtered out of his mouth, and onto the table.  He looked at us sheepishly.  "Typical guy.", Cassie said.  Though she managed to pull a lot of affection into that insult.  She turned her head and gave me a wink.  I laughed inwardly.  Jake quickly got a paper towel and wiped it up.  I just _had_ to giggle a little.  Who could blame me?

 

        I started a cup of coffee, and sat down at the table.  I heard a sound of ceramic and granite scraping together behind me.  I turned around.  The sugar bowl was lifting off of the countertop!  "Oh my god!", Cassie said wide eyed.  Surprisingly, other things were moving around too, the sugar bowl floated and turned upside down, and it all of the sugar fell out, and began to float everywhere too.  Wait, I was floating too!  "All right, who turned off the gravity?", Marco asked laughing.  As if to answer him, a thought-speak voice boomed out of the loudspeaker.  <We are experiencing temporary loss of gravity, we are sorry for any inconvieneince this may cause.>  It reminded me of the time I was on a rollarcoaster, and the power shut off.  It wouldn't have been that bad, except I was upside down on a loop.  My mom tried to sue them once we got off.

 

        "Hey, can you guys do this?", Jake asked.  He did a full sumersault in midair.  I laughed.  "Piece of cake!  Watch this!"  I did a backwards sumersault, and ate a potato chip that happened to be floating around while I sprinted from one end of the room to another.  "Show off.", Jake muttered.  "I wonder what would happen if a bird was caught in this...would it still be able to fly?", Cassie wondered thoughtfully.  I had my morphing suit on so...

 

        "Rachel, what the hell are you doing!?", Jake asked.  "I'm mowrpfin incha sqaaa...", I said.  My mouth was already becoming a beak.  A deadly curved beak, perfect for ripping an unsuspecting mouse.  My skin itched as a pattern of feathers was sketched on my morhing suit and skin, then became 3D.  Toes went from ten to six, then became talons.  "Um, so how can you fly Rachel?", Cassie asked me.  <Strange.>, I whispered in thought-speach. 

 

        "Define strange.", Tobias said.  <Uh, okay.  It's like the human part of me gets it.  It knows this is just no gravity.  The eagle part of me doesn't understand it.  It wants to flap its wings, but it can't exactly.  It requires more effort, and the dead air and no breezes doesn't help either.  The eagle is basically saying, 'I don't know exactly what this is, but I don't care.  I want to fly.  I want to be able to spread my wings.', only in a much more simplistic way.>

 

        All of them nodded, but Cassie was the only one who actually looked interested.  I would have rolled my eyes if I was human, but birds don't do eye-rolling.  I began to demorph.  Then there was a falling senation.

 

        <Ow!>  "Jeez, if the andalites were restoring gravity they could've told us first.", Marco said.  My wings were kinda crumpled, so I sped up the morph.  After a minute or so, I stood in a black leotard again.  My outfit was on the ground.  I picked it up, and slipped it over my morphing suit.

 

        "...I'm just saying, if they ever thought this would happen, they should have given us tuperware!", Marco argued with Jake, who was rolling his eyes by force of habit.  _Tuperware?..._ , I thought.  I looked at the smashed up ceramic that had broke during the regain of gravity. _Oh._   Cassie muttered something, than began picking up the pieces.  Jake, Tobias, and I helped.  Marco didn't of course.  He was preocupied by attempting to open the blinds.  "Ya no Marco, there is such a thing as a _gentleman._ ", I told him.  He grinned slyly.  " _Gen-tle-man_?  Is that how you pronounce it?  I've only seen it written."  I shook my fist at him, and he laughed.

 

        Could it seriously all be an act?

 

        Cassie coughed.  "Rachel, could you, uh, show me how to fold our beds back into the wall?"  One thing:  Cassie knew how to fold the beds back.  In fact, she was the one who had shown me, but I played along anyway.  I nodded.  "Sure."  I grabbed a granola bar.  She led me through the hall, into our bedroom, and for am second, I actually thought that maybe she forgot how to fold the beds back, and wanted me to show her.

 

        "Okay Rachel, spill."  Cassie's expression was stern.  I gagged on the bite of granola in my mouth.  Coughing, I sputtered out, "I bech..."  I coughed.  "I beg your pardon?"  Cassie then looked sympathetic.  "Rach, I know that something's bothering you.  Besides, you never say, 'I beg your pardon?'  Will _you_ tell _me_ what's wrong, or do you want _me_ to tell _you_?"  The room was silent except for me nibbling on my food.  She sighed.  "You're worried that we all hate you.  That's it, isn't it?"  It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

 

        My right hand ran over my ring by force of habit.  Stupid me.  Cassie saw.  "It's not your fault Rachel.", Cassie reminded me.  Pity.  Ugh.  I don't offer it, and I sure as hell don't accept it.  "Cassie, don't try it on me.", I threatened.  The two emotions are very close in me: Sadness and fury.  Cassie sees right through me.  She sees right through eveyone!  The girl knows exactly what to say, and when to say it.

 

        "Look Rachel, I can't force you to believe me, but I can try.", Cassie said.  "Everyone here still likes you.  Jake's still your couson, you know he loves you.  You're my best friend, and that will always atay the same.  Bffs since we were in dipers.  Tobias doesn't regret giving you the ring, he loves you.  And Marco..."  She laughed.  "Well, you know Marco.  He will never quit his job of your personal pain in the ass." 

 

        I smiled a little bit, but then looked away.  Cassie frowned deeply.  "Rachel, someday you're going to learn to trust me."  I protested.  "I do trust you Cassie!  I always have.  It's just that all those people that were left on earth while we escaped with our lives...I can't escape the fact that's it's all my fault.", I said.  "I just wanted to have another shot on earth.  If I knew that this would happen I never would have said yes.  Do you think that my choice was a selfish one?", I asked nervously.  When I say nervously, I meant I was so nervous that my whole body was trembling.  I was mad at myself for being so scared and looking so much like a wimp.  "Rachel, it seems just the opposite."

 

        "Well, to hear it from you makes me feel a little better.  Tobias always agrees with what I say, and almost never ever argues with me.  Jake has learned to say what he needs to, so it's sometimes hard to tell what's sincere and what isn't.  Marco can be serious when he wants to, but lately, he's been feeling like it's his job to keep everybody for going crazy, so I can't get him to talk normally."  Cassie nodded.  "Well, just remember that nobody hates you, and we don't blame you for this shit, okay?"  I nodded. 

 

 

 

Chapter 3 *Tobias*

_(Four months later...)_

 

        I opened my eyes filled mith crud, leaned over the side of my bed, and threw up.  What was wrong with me?  "Tobias, man, you don't look so good."  _Who said that?_   Rachel?  Jake, Marco?  "It's me buddy, Marco."  _Marco, yes.  I remember you._  "I better go get Ax.", a voice said.  Rachel's voice.  We had all reunited with Ax the first week sometime.  "Mmmmph.", I muttered.

 

        "I'm going to get him another blanket.", I heard Cassie say.  I sat straight up.  "NOOOO!", I yelled.  Cassie stopped in her tracks.  "So hot!", I muttered.  "Tobias, a few minutes ago you said that you were feezing half to death, dude.", Jake said.  Cassie mumbled while she took my temperature.  The andalites have this really cool thermometer, where all you have to do is swipe in across the person's forehead, and it gives the reading in a fraction of a second.  "A hundred five point eight."  I groaned, and fell facedown into my pillows.  Marco whistled a long, low whistle.  "Some fever!"  I covered my hands with my ears.  "No talking!", I shreaked.  My head pulsaded by the slightest sound.  Their voices lowered to a whisper too low for me to hear them.

 

        My mouth still tasted sour.  "Can I have a tick-tack?  Maybe a stick of gum?", I whispered.  I fumbled for my water bottle, which Jake handed to me.  I swished my mouth around, then spit it out.  I aimed for the bucket, but the grotesque water and vomit landed on the floor.  No comments from them.  I was barely able to make out their conversations; their voices were so low.  "Been like...a week now."  "How much longer...keep this up...andalites may not know how to..."  "...fever is steadily inclining..."  "Not heard of any...on the other eight ships."

 

        A polite knock sounded on the door.  Rachel and Ax walked in, and Rachel was carrying a small bag of ice.  She put it on my forehead, but soon my body was wraked with shivers, and Cassie took the ice away, then added another blanket.  Soon, I was sweating all over my already sweat-soaked sheets.  Rachel did something very un-Rachel-like then.  She cried.  She sobbed, loudly, and her whole body shaked.  I wanted to reassure her that I would be okay, that I wasn't going to die.  Though, I couldn't tell for sure.  I didn't even have the strength to talk.

 

        I couldn't find even the strength to open my eyes.  "Guys, leave me be, I might be contageous.", I said with my eyes still shut.  "We will not leave you here!", Jake proclaimed in his proud leader voice.  I cursed him in my head, because I didn't have the strength to talk.  "Very well then.", I said shaking my head the tiniest bit.  "Rachel..."  I fumbled for her hand.  I must have found it eventually, because I felt her hand shake with sobs.  "Don't mourn for me.  Continue your journey.  Make it to the new planet."  "Tobias, you aren't going to die."  Rachel was trying her best to sound brave, but I know her.  I know her too well. She can't fool me.

 

        A cool cloth was draped on my forehead by a delicate blue hand with several too many fingers.  The water was immediatly soaked up into my skull, and Ax dumbly picked up a hot, dry cloth.  Rachel draped another cloth.  The water in that one was absorbed too.   The thermometer was swept against my forehead again.  "Hundered four!", a voice exclaimed.  I couldn't tell who it was, but whoever it was sounded excited.  "Big whoop.  It's still a fever from hell."  I recongized the voice from Marco.  "Shut UP Marco!", Rachel shreaked.  "There's no need for you to be a close minded, negative-"  I cut her off by screaming because my ears hurt.  It was probably best that I did scream, because I had a feeling Rachel was about to call Marco some very...rude, names.

 

        Over the next week or so, andalite doctors were running in and out of the room.  I eventually had to be moved to another room.  The walls were painted light green, and everything about the room seemed nice and calm, but I couldn't care because I was too busy trying to stay alive.  Try as they might, they could find no cure for the terrible disease I had been infected with.  <There is some information that we collected about the desiese.>, an andalite doctor told my friends.  <The desiese is actually a bacterial infection which entered through a cut on his leg.  The wound festered, and numbed his leg mustles, which is why he collapses every time he tries to stand up or walk.  The infection entered his bloodstream, and then traveled through many valves, moving all around his body.  The legs, left arm, chest, throat, and organs have already been infected, and now the infection is spreading to your friend's heart and brain.> 

 

        I heard this all in faint pieces with an occasional buzzing noise in my eardrum interrupting the doctor's thoughts, but I could still make out everything he said.  "What's the cure for it?", Rachel raged.  <We do not know, but we do recomend giving your friend, Tobias, as much liquid as he can bear, for it will be terribly painful for him to swallow.>  Cassie nodded.  "We know.  He throws up everything that he eats or drinks."  As if to prove her correct, I leaned over and vomited my lunch into a trashcan.  My lunch had only been beef broth deluted with water.  It had tasted like garbage to my mixed up tastebuds on my tounge, which had gone out of place.  Sweet was salty, bitter was tangy, and spicy was sweet.

 

        <Doctor Grafinal!>  An andalite nurse came galloping into my sickroom.  <What is it?>, the doctor asked in a panic.  <The, the, the...the infection!>  <What about it!?>  <It's been...spotted.  On, on, on ships one, two, three, five, and seven!>

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 *Jake*

 

        As I ran back into the sickroom with a cool cloth, I heard Cassie cry out in pain.  In another bed next to her's Tobias lay as still as...a dead person.  The moniter beside them had their heartbeats registered on them.  Tobias's was way to slow, and Cassie's was to quick.

 

        "Any changes?", I heard Marco ask.  I shook my head.  "No.  Did you bring the water?"  "Yeah, here."  I took the huge bottle from him and poured some into two small cups.  Tobias drank some, but it came right back up, and Cassie's throat was so sore that she cried when she tried to swallow it.  I sighed.  There were in so much pain, that sometimes looking at them made me sob.  They were a pitiful sight.  Tobias had grown a beard and a mustace that hadn't been bothered to be shaved off.   Cassie's skin was cracked and dry.  "Come on guys, just take a little sip.  Please, you'll feel so much better once you get something in your system." , Rachel pleaded.  I think we were able to get a few drops in eventually, but no more than that.  I left the room.

 

        There was a sickroom on every ship now, but only ships one, two, three, five and seven have people in them.  Well, there were people in all of them, but only those ships had people with Tobias's and Cassie's infection in the sickrooms.  There were other people with typical things like the flu, or strept throat though.  So far, nothing relating to curing it had been figured out.  The andalite doctors were trying their best though. 

 

        Just then, I heard my cell phone ring.  (Don't ask how I got signal on a ship in z-space.  The andalites tried explaining to me once, and I fell asleep.  No, literally.)  I picked it up.  "Uh, hi?", I said.  "Prince Jake!", I heard a rough, hourse voice on the other end of the line.  I almost laughed.  Toby using a cell phone, what a funny thing to picture.  "Uh, hi Toby, what's up?"  "I already contacted Aximilli, about it.  The two hork-bajir ships have landed, and we're at the home planet."  She sounded really happy.  "Oh, good.  is everything there going well."  She told me everything was fine and dandy, and after a minute or so of small talk, we both hung up.

 

        I told Marco and Rachel the news.  "That's great.", Rachel said.  "Please guys, you haven't slept for a week.", she scolded Tobias and Cassie.  Neither of them would sleep though.  "Leave guys.  Don't...want you sick."  I looked down at Cassie wrinkled face.  The infection had aged her greatly.  We stood our ground.  "We are NOT leaving any of you here.", Marco proclaimed.  His legs were spread apart, and his arms were folded.  Marco wore a look of determination on his olive face.  Cassie would have bribed us, but Tobias didn't hesitate.  "We'll drink, eat a little bit, and try our best to sleep if you leave us here.  You can let the andalites come, their immune to this infection, it only affects humans."  I sighed.  "So, what you're saying is we have no choice?"  "Basically, yeah."  I rolled my eyes, and reluctantly agreed.  Closing the door behind me, Rachel and Marco gritted their teeth.

 

        "I fear for their lives.", Rachel admitted.  She bowed her head, and blond hair hid her face.  "There seems to be no cure, they're in terrible pain that we can not even beging to imagine, and they can't eat or drink or sleep."  Rachel looked close to tears.  I hate in when she cries.  Rachel is very brave, and seeing her cry makes me feel weak.  At that moment, doctors and nurses rushed into the sickroom.

 

        One stopped in front of us.  <We found a cure!>, the doctor exclaimed.  "What!?", we all yelled in a chorus.  Rachel's legs wobbled, and I had to help steady her.  "Well, what is it?!", we shouted.  <It is a simple procedure.  All that needs to be done is this:  A blood sample close enough to the patient needs to be found.  A very small drop of the patient's sickly blood will be mixed with a larger sample from the closely matched blood sample in a syringe.  The healthy blood will conquer the small amout of ill blood, and once that blood is injected into the patient, the patient should be cured within a week!>  I stared at him.  "Jake buddy, all they need is a small blood transplant.", Marco whispered to me.  I rolled my eyes at him.  "Yes Marco, thank you for dumbing it down for me."

 

        "Wait!", Rachel said with a pale face.  "Are you sure that that's the _only_ way to cure the infection?", she asked with her head cocked to the right side.  <Well, yes, but it is a very simple procedure that only requires->  "But Tobias and Cassie are only childs; no siblings."  Rachel was able to see what Marco and I had overlooked.  I tried to swallow, but I couldn't.  My adam's apple wasn't working right.  <Well, Cassie has a couson on ship number two, and we have a special idea in mind for Tobias...>  "What is it?"  <Well, Tobias's uncle is Prince Aximilli...>  I shook my head.  "Oh boy."

 

 

 

 

Chaper 5 *Ax*

 

        <I have the results of the blood test.>, Doctor Grafinal announced.  My human friends were sitting on chairs in the sickroom.  All except for Cassie and Tobias, who lay in the beds.  I stood next to Prince Jake's chair.  Tension filled the atmosphere.  <The matches were a success!>  My friends wooped and yelled and cheered.  "Horray!"  That was the shock of my life, for human blood to have a close enough match to andalite blood.

 

        None of that mattered though.  The doctor put extracted a very small bit of blood from Cassie, then the same amount from Tobias.  Cassie's blood was mixed with her couson's.  (I later learned that her name was Tabitha)  My blood was mixed with Tobias's.  It turned a very deep purple.  The blood was injected into Tobias and Cassie's right arms.  <Now, they should be cured within a week.>

 

        Sure enough, in four days, Cassie was standing.  On the fifth day, she was walking, and Tobias was able to sit up.  On the sixth day, Cassie was running around, and her dry and wrinkled skin was once again healthy.  Tobias was walking a little, taking very small steps at a time.  On the seventh day, they both had returned to mormal, and ate for the first time in a week.  Not having eaten a decent sized meal in a long time, they both ate many helpings, and each drank two gallons in a day. 

 

        A week after having recovered, the best news in almost a year reached my friends.  <Prince Aximilli, we have just one more day until we land on the new planet for the humans.>  The aristh asked me to please go tell my human friends, and so I did.  They wooped and cheered and made a lot of noise.  The next day, we caught sight of the planet.  It was mostly land, with smaller oceans than the ones on earth, and had tremendously high mountians. 

 

        A new world had opened up for the humans once we had landed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilouge *Rachel*

 

        "I love this planet.", I told Tobias.  He nodded.  "Me too."  We had been living on the new planet for exactly six years then.

 

          I watched the sun rise from our kitchen window.  Earth's sunrises may be beautiful, but they're nothing compared the Veela's sunrises.  It was made mostly of brilliant reds and blues.  The small streaks of yellow called out to the heavens, and the purple sang out a sad song without words.  Orange patches blazed with firelight, and the green called out a sign of new growth and life.  "You know what I never understood?", Tobias asked me.  I shook my head.  "Why did the andalites name this place _Veela_ anyway?"  I smiled.  "In their language, it means _hope."_

Tobias was sorting through the mail.  "Hey, we got a letter from Jake and Cassie.", he said.  He shuffled letters some more.  "And one from Marco and his girlfriend.  It looks like a wedding invatation."

 

          _Dear Tobias and Rachel, Thanks for the support in getting the andalites to help tame some of the animals so we can keep them as pets.  We adopted a black hanch, and she is the sweetest little thing.  She looks so much like a labrador, only with a longer tail, floppy ears, and she's as soft as silk.  We named her Sophie, and she learned her name so quickly!  We heard that you adopted a white hanch, and we're hoping that you could send us a picture of him.  How's Allison doing?  Our little Lucas mastered "Mama" and "Dada" just yesterday.  He turns one in just a month.  He's the spitting image of Jake, the resemblence is so exact.  Sometimes people will look at us and ask if Cassie's actually his mother!  We're looking forward to seeing you at Allison's birthday party in a week.  Take care.  With love, Jake and Cassie._

 

`       "Mommy, daddy?"  A pretty, little figure edged towards us.  "Good morning Allison.", I said.  I scooped her up, gave her a hug, then put her back down.  "I'm so ex-tited for my birthday!  I'm going to be five!"  I smiled.  "You sure are.", Tobias said grinning ear to ear.  I began to comb her shoulder-length light blond hair.  After I was done, I stretched.

 

          "I'm going to get some air.", I said.  I walked outside, letting the sweet aroma of the flowers fill my nose.  Veela was by far the most beautiful planet ever.  The flowers were brilliant colors, the trees had the sweetest fruits, and the rivers and lakes held sparkling blue, crystal clear water.  I sat down a chair on the stone patio, and looked around our yard.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Ellimist's face appear in the blue sky.  His glowing blue face seemed so hard to make out in the even bluer sky.  I got up, and smiled at him.  He nodded.  "Mission accomplished.", he said to me.  My eyes were filling with happy tears. 

 

        I said, "Mission accomplished."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit you read all this?? I applaud you. Wowie. My twelve year-old self would be so proud, and my nineteen year-old self is very thankful. xox

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I told you it was gonna be weird. Glad you survived.


End file.
